mt. kenya star issue 16 december 2015

KUTUS | DECEMBER, 2015 ISSUE 016 www.mtkenyastar.com PRICE: KSh30

FRAUD: French Beans buyer Value Pak Foods is also accused of being an alleged conspirator in the loss of Ksh34 billion of depositors’ funds.

Bank fraud costs farmers Sh20m

STORY ON PAGE 02

PUBLISHERS

IN OTHER PAGES

With more than 200 dairy coWs and producing over 2,000 litres of milk every day, and an upcoming dairy processing plant, James murimi is kirinyaga’s top dairy farmer.

How Murimi has built a dairy empire

STORY ON PAGE 8 >>

STORY ON PAGE 02

BREWS & COURTS

Court allows Kutus brewer to operate

Who am I to operate such a factory without the required licenses?, I have paid all the licenses required and Mwara knows the truth. I have paid the County Government about Sh550,000 this year to get all these licenses.

For the Good oF KIrInyaGa PeoPle

KIRINYAGA RETAINS BEST KENYA FARMER AWARD

James Murimi with his wife Julie Murimi (left) pose for a photo with nominated Cabinet Secretary for Youth and Civil Service Sicily Kariuki (middle) during the National Farmers Awards where Murimi was announced the national winner.

The management and staff of Mt. Kenya Star PUBlISherS would like to thank our readers, advertisers and supporters for your continued

support. We take this opportunity to wish you the best of Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2017. Stay

blessed.

BY MT. KENYA STAR TEAM

More than 1,000 French beans (miciiri) farm-ers in Kirinyaga may

lose over Sh20 million shillings following the freezing of the ac-counts of Value Pak Foods over claims that it participated in banking fraud.

Value Pak Foods is the com-pany that has contracted them to farm the French beans farm-ers but is now engulfed in one of Kenyans biggest banking fraud case that led to the clo-sure of the Imperial Bank by the Central Bank of Kenya over theft of Sh34 billion by its se-

nior management.But even worse off for Value

Pak Foods and in what may result into a financial disas-ter for Kirinyaga farmers, the company is now being accused of being one of the 12 that par-ticipated in the stealing of the customers’ money at the bank.

This means that even if the Central Bank succeeds in open-ing the bank, the accounts of Value Pak Foods may continue to be closed because of the al-legations by the Central Bank appointed receiver managers.

Imperial Bank has filled two applications seeking to freeze the accounts of companies and

individuals whom it says stole Sh34 billion. Among the com-panies is Value Pak Foods. The company is also related to some of the other mentioned 11 com-panies some being in Uganda and Tanzania.

It looks like it will be a case of divine intervention for the farmers mostly from Gichugu, Mwea and Ndia to receive their payment.

Even more worrying for farmers is that there is still ma-turing crop in the shambas by the time of going to press, and it is not clear if Value Pak Foods will be able to buy it.

Francis Gatu, a Supervisor

with the company however said should the issues not have been resolved by the time the crop matures, then farmers will be allowed to sell to other buyers.

“Yes farmers have not been paid. It is no our wish. It is as a result of the issues surrounding Imperial Bank,” he said.

“Our directors are trying dil-igently to see if they can come into an agreement with the Central Bank so that money to pay farmers can be withdrawn,” he said

He said Kirinyaga provides up to 99% of the 1,000 metric tones of the company’s French beans annual demand. The company exports the beans to France.

Value Pak Foods is one of the only three Frech beans canning company in Kenya, others be-ing Frigoken Limited and Njoro Canners.

This means its exit from the market, even if temporary will have major ramifications in terms of reduced market for the French beans and flooding of the produce which will expose farmers to lower prices.

Farmers Protest

Nevertheless, the farmers led by David Wachira who is the in-termediary between them and exporter said the crop in their shambas has over matured and therefore will pile up the losses the farmers have suffered.

He was speaking to the press in Kerugoya town after pre-senting their grievances to the County Director for Agricul-ture Benson Mukungo. But the county official said the issue was beyond the responsibility

of the county government.“The director advised us

to visit the Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA) offices since it has the mandate to deal with issues pertaining to French beans farming,” said Wachira.

At the HCDA, they advised to gather all the documents re-lated to the supply deal of the commodity and present them to the HCDA for ease of refer-ence and to enable the Agency on the next course of action.

One of the affected farmers from Karia village Peter Muchi-ra who harvests two tonnes of the crop weekly earning him about Sh100, 000 said the loss incurred so far has left com-pletely grounded.

“My beans have now over matured and unfit for export since no picking has taken place for the last two and half months and you can see the losses I have so far incurred in terms of labor and farm inputs,” he said.

Kirinyaga produces over 60% of the French Beans exported to the European Union from Ken-ya according to the Ministry of Agriculture records.

Second Time Unlucky

This is the second time this year that French bean farmers in Kirinyaga have been unlucky. Earlier in the year and also last year, farmers incurred losses running into millions of shil-lings after their produce was locked out of the international market for using a banned pes-ticide. Kangai location was the most affected.

2 DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STARNEWS

Farmers lose Sh20m in bank fraud saga Court allows Kutus brewer to operate

<< CONT. FROM PG 1

<< CONT. FROM PG 1

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BY MT. KENYA STAR REPORTER

A second generation brews manufactur-er in Kirinyaga is still operating be-cause of a legal technicality.

Wittmore Breweries that is owned by Ju-lius Chomba, a business man who also owns Joy Millers at Kutus town, is still producing the second generation brews which were banned through a presidential directive in June.

Chairperson of the Kirinyaga County Li-quor Licensing Board Nyamu Mwara says Chomba is operating illegally and that he is being protected by the offices of the County Commissioner and the Police Commander.

“We have found products belonging to the factory, a brand called Brown Oak be-ing sold in parts of Mwea. All the author-ities are aware but they are doing nothing about it. He is enjoying some protection,” said Mwara.

But Chomba said he is operating legally and he has all the licenses required by the Liqour Licensing Board, which gave him li-censes in January.

“Who am I to operate such a factory with-out the required licenses?” posed Chomba. “I have paid all the licenses required and Mwara knows the truth. I have paid the County Government about Sh550,000 this year to get all these licenses. Our beer has been checked by the Government chemist and approved Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS). We are doing everything the way it is supposed to be done,” said Chomba.

The issue is that Chomba decided to take the County Government and others to court. The investor said he has a court order that prevents the County Government and its agencies from interfering with its opera-tions.

That order bars the police from raiding his facility and even a mass action to raid his premises, known as ‘class action’ like what happened when the presidential directive was given, would attract serious penalties for those involved.

“My license expires this December. It is valid and was given by the same office. I will re-apply for next year’s license because I am not an enemy of this government,” said Chomba.

But Mwara said Chomba’s company is not among those licensed to brew alcohol based on the list that was released recently by the Minister for Interior. The Anglican Church in Kirinyaga has also protected the contin-ued brewing of second generation brews. (See separate story on page 4)

Mr Chomba started the brewing business after a successful run of his human and live-stock feeds milling and packaging business, the first such industry to be set up in Kutus town.

Presidential directive

A presidential directive earlier this year saw the public and police raising several brewing factories most in Mt. Kenya region. There has been debate of whether Presiden-tial Executive Orders and Directives are con-stitutional but this matter cannot be com-mented on further because it is still in court.

The directive came about after rogue brewers infiltrated the industry to manufac-ture lethal brews that were not only killing people but rendering them unproductive.

The cheap cost and ready availability of these brews also meant people would start drinking as early as morning. The youth were particularly affected because in ad-dition to them being unable to provide for their families, they did not meet bedroom expectations of their spouses. The problem of alcohol abuse has been partly blamed on low birth rates in the region.

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3DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR ADVERTISEMENT

DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR4 POLITICS

EDITORIAL

MT. KENYA STAR newspaper is published monthly by MT. KENYA STAR PUBLISHERS.Office Hotline: 0707648755 Other Contacts: 0722214261 / 0722792810.

Email: [email protected]

DRINKING WATER COMPETITION

Governor Joseph Ndathi and the Director of Effort Junior School John Kabui participate in a drinking water competition during at open day at the Kerugoya School for the Blind.


Kirinyaga County Government and the Office of the County Commis-sioner have been condemned by

the Anglican Church and residents for failure to reign on the illicit brew manu-facturers and sellers.

The two offices have been accused of being compromised by the manufactur-ers and sellers of the illicit brew as no arrests have been made especially among the politically influential manufacturers and suppliers of raw materials for the brew despite clear evidence that the sale and consumption of illicit brew is back.

The ACK says the offices of the County Liqour Licensing Board and that of the County Commissioner must take respon-sibility for the menace.

ACK Diocesan Bishop Joseph Kibucwa cited the case of Nduini Sub-Location in Kirinyaga Central where sale of illicit brew is happening in the open all day and the local area chief and assistant chiefs are much aware.

A memorandum presented to the County Commissioner by the residents notes; “The dens are packaging alcohol in plastic bags like milk. They have a network of getting information on crack-down. The office of the Chief and Assis-

tant Chief is aware and could be part of the network.”

Members of the Nduini community accused Governor Jo-seph Ndathi of lacking the political will to end the illicit alcohol men-ace despite the conse-quences it poses to the development, social welfare and education status of Kirinyaga County.

In Nduini for in-stance, the County Liqour Licensing Board has failed to implement basic legal requirement that no

bar should be within 200-300 metres of location of an education institution.

Across Kirinyaga, residents who are totally drunk are now visible on the road-sides, a sight that had ended few months ago, following the intervention of Presi-dent Uhuru Kenyatta.

For administrators, it would only take a reverse action of knowing where they drunk person bought the brew and follow the chain backwards to know its source, a task the administrators appear not to be concerned with despite it being one of their core responsibilities.

It means Kirinyaga County has lost the gains it made during the wave of disman-tling illicit brew manufacturing factories and sale of the same earlier in the year.

“The County Government, especially the County Liqour Licensing Board and the Office of the Governor know exactly who and where the illicit brew is being made and who are providing the molas-ses that is used to manufacture this beer. But no action is being taken, and when taken, its cosmetic,” said James Gakono, a resident of Nduini.

The residents have presented their memorandum to the government. They cite areas where the illicit beer is being made in the county include: Ngomongo, Ndagarini, Rutere, Gikangano, Kingo, Kiambembo (located at Kutus) among other areas.

“The providers of the brewing mate-rials, the molasses for brewing are well connected and economically strong peo-ple who are well known by the adminis-tration,” the residents said in their mem-orandum.

Diocesan Bishop Kibucwa on his part said that the Church is concerned that just when the residents have started en-joying a sober environment, the manu-facturers have resumed production of the illegal commodity.

The Bishop said that the Church has credible information concerning the re-grouping of manufacturers and using ev-ery imaginable tact compromise county government officials.

The Cleric also said that the brews are transported in broad day light into the densely populated Ngomongo slums near Kutus town in a double cabin vehicle as those authorities turn a blind eye as the social vice is being perpetrated.

“Our Parishioners have given us a list of all the joints these illicit brews are being sold openly as the provincial administra-tion and the police turn a blind eye on the matter as all the gains on the war against illegal brews get eroded,” the Bishop said.

Bishop Kibucwa warned that should its petition not be considered he will lead the congregants into a series of mass action until those contravening the presidential decree were brought to book to stop the vice.

Corruption cited in failure by County Government, County Commissioner to stop sale of illicit brew

In Nduini for instance, the County Liqour Licensing Board has failed to implement basic legal requirement that no bar should be within 200-300 metres of location of an education institution.

EFFECTS OF CORRuPTION

Leadership wrangles will slow our development

With all the challenges that the counties are facing, leadership wrangles should not be on that list.

The counties are at a stage of forming and nurturing insti-tutions for the future benefit of the residents.

We are at a period where County Assemblies for instance should come up with laws and institutions that will drive development. The executive should be at the forefront of coming up with policies to open up the counties for business.

This can however only be achieved in an environment that allows collaborative approach to leadership in order to come up with what is best for the residents.

Counties continue to face cash flow problems. This is a problem that is likely persist because we do not expect a major increase in allocation from the national government which itself is missing rev-enue targets.

Hopes that the flow of oil from Turkana would assist Kenya raise its development allocation have been dashed by slowing of exploration activities because of the general decline of oil prices in the interna-tional market.

The idea therefore should be for the county leadership to come up with innovative measures that will increase revenue collection within their localities without over-taxing the business community.

But this cannot be done in an atmosphere where there is political wrangling. In Embu, the County Assembly made several attempts to impeach the governor. In Murang’a, the governor just survived an im-peachment. In Nyeri, plans by the County Assembly to impeach the governor were scuttled.

This is a worrying trend. The county assemblies must understand that their core responsibility is not to impeach the governors but to play oversight role on how the county government is using public resources and also to make laws.

We however want to emphasize that where there are adequate grounds, governors should be impeached. But this should be the last option because alternative means to conflict resolution should be ute-lised.

The Auditor General’s report has indicated corruption within the executive as well as within the county assemblies. The assemblies should therefore not take a holier-than-thou attitude because they should also be accountable on how they spend taxpayers’ money.

Leadership wrangles within the counties are working to the disad-vantage of the residents. A lot of money is being spent to fight politi-cal battles. A lot of time is also being spent focusing on politics rather than development. It is the mwanachi who is losing.

Leaders need to use their time to offer solutions to the residents and facilitate their ease of doing business in order to build the eco-nomic capacity and also improve the standards of living.

Our message to the leaders is that you are failing the people of Mt. Kenya region if you do not solve your difference through dialogue. Do not let the efforts of our hardworking and industrious people go to waste.

*****

As you may notice, we have redesigned our first pages of the county editions to reflect the county specific coverage. This is part of our con-tinuous efforts to ensure that we align your favourite newspaper with your aspirations of our existing and those of future readers.

Our publishing company remains the MT. KENYA STAR PUBLISH-ERS and we have reinforced our editions identity by replacing the word STAR with the COUNTY NEWS, to reflect our core mandate.

We shall continue to be innovative in design and content develop-ment to ensure that we meet the expectations of our readers, adver-tisers and supporters.

*****

It is the holiday season again! It is time to make merry, give gen-erously, take care of the less fortunate in the society, which should always be done, and more so as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and usher in a new year. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2016.

DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR 5NEWS


President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Cabinet reorganization was a sort of anti-climax for Ki-

rinyaga residents, following his failure to appoint a Cabinet Sec-retary (minister) from the county.

Expectations were high that the president would appoint a person from Kirinyaga to replace Anne Waiguru, the former CS for Devolution and Planning who re-signed last month over the theft of millions of shillings under the directorate of the National Youth Service.

Although Waiguru defended herself that she was the one who reported the scandal first and therefore was the whistle blower and a witness, tables turned after a sustained campaign led by the national media and ODM Leader Raila Odinga.

It was therefore expected that President Uhuru would replace her with a person from Kirinyaga. But that was not to be. New faces in Uhuru’s Cabinet from the Mt. Kenya region are former Laikipia MP Mwangi Kiunjuri, the new CS for Devolution and Sicily Kariuki, formerly a PS for Agriculture, Live-stock and Fisheries, who is now the CS for the newly created min-istry of Youth and Public Service.

Although senior politicians in Kirinyaga County have put a brave face saying that appointments are a “prerogative of the president”, the fact is that Kirinyaga people have lost a position of influence in the Jubilee government.

It is the second major loss under the Uhuru presidency, following resignation of the Director Gener-al of the National Intelligence Ser-vice (NIS) Major-General Michael Gichangi and now Waiguru. The two come from greater Baragwi area in Gichugu.

Possible replacers?

Some names of Kirinyaga pro-fessionals who were already being floated to replace Waiguru in the Cabinet include that of former Commissioner General of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Michael Waweru. Waweru is created with turning around KRA and more than tripling its revenue collection in eight years of his leadership.

Recognizing the need to appoint more politicians in the Cabinet, there were also suggestions that former Ndia MP and finance min-ister Njeru Githae was likely to be recalled from his duties as the Kenya’s Ambassador in United States (Washington) to take up a Cabinet position.

Githae and the greater Githae family enjoy close political rela-tions within the current and the previous administrations. His ap-pointment would have given him a ‘local advantage’ as he has already expressed interest to run for the governor position in 2017.

Another name that was being suggested was that of Mary Mu-thoni. Mary is a respected business lady with interests in education and human resource. She is also

involved in activities of marketing Kenya for investments and enjoys close political relations with the current administration.

Failure to lobby

Although the president has a final decision to appoint the Cab-inet, the failure of a Kirinyaga professional making it there was partly seen as failure by the polit-ical leadership to lobby.

Either Kirinyaga people who are influential lack close political relations with President Uhuru or they decided not to lobby for a person who when appointed could come back to haunt them or their friends politically.

The profile of the CS would mean that the holder would build a name and use that to advantage to seek an elective position of with-er Member of Parliament or gover-norship in future.

President Uhuru aware?

The president appears to have been aware of the fact that he had failed to replace Waiguru’s position with a resident of Kirin-yaga and to soften the ground, he appointed an additional principal secretary from Kirinyaga meaning the county now has two PSs.

Dr. Eng. Karanja Kibicho was reappointed to be the PS of the Ministry of Interior. He previous served as the PS in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Nancy Wakarima Karigithu was appointed the PS in charge of Maritime Commerce under the Ministry of Transport. Nancy is a maritime law expert who was the

Director-General of Kenya Mari-time Authority for nine years until May 2015.

She left to start her own compa-ny, Nancy Karigithu & Associates which specialises in maritime safe-ty and security; marine environ-mental law; legislative drafting; maritime and shipping policy for-mulation; port management and shipping logistics.

Waiguru’s legacy

In only about three years as a Cabinet Minister, Waiguru was able to make some lasting impres-sion on development at the nation al and county level.

At the national level, Waiguru succeeded in remodeling the NYS into a quasi development youth force that has helped revive work ethics of many youths in informal settlements and rural areas.

She succeeded in turning the NYS from a dependent unit of the national government into a pro-ductive force that helped to create wealth and employment.

While it is true that about Sh800 million was stolen from the NYS during her tenure, the good news is that she brew the whistle about the theft and had volunteered to become a State witness in the case.

But politicians led by Raila Odin-ga fanned a deliberate campaign throuth the media to have her re-sign, using the loss of money as an excuse but in real sense, making it a ayback time as the activities of NYS has brought positive progress in areas like Kibera and Kisumu where Raila enjoys fanatical polit-ical following but has failed to rally his youthful supporters to focus on productive activities. The fact that even when he was the Prime Min-ister he failed to undertake such projects is seen as having been part of Raila’s anger against Waiguru.

At the county level, Waiguru succeeded in bringing President Uhuru to the interior of the county notwithstanding the rains that has made the roads nearly impassable. Through this trip, the president promised the Kianyaga-Kiamugu-mo road would be tarmacked. The president also donated a school bus to Kiamugumo Secondary School.

Waiguru also launched the Anne Waiguru Foundation that is spon-soring needy but bright students to pursue secondary education.

The Foundation is enabling more students from Kirinyaga County access secondary school education. It will be funded from her own resources and those from well wishers. The Foundation has started by sponsoring the top six children from within Ngariama ward.

“This is simply a personal initia-tive. I have given what I have as per now but it is my sincere hope that the foundation will attract well wishers in the near future,” said Waiguru during the launch.

Waiguru also commissioned a milk cooling plant managed by Rung’eto Cooperative Society at Githure in Ngariama ward. The cooling plant has a capacity of 5,000 litres of milk. It will serve 1,200 farmers.

Waiguru: Why Uhuru did not appoint a Kirinyaga replacement

Although Waiguru defended herself that she was the one who reported the scandal first and therefore was the whistle blower and a witness, tables turned after a sustained campaign led by the national media and ODM Leader Raila Odinga.

President Uhuru with former devolution CS anne Waiguru at an nyS pass out parade.

WAIGuRu’S REPlACEMENT

njeru Githae.nancy Wakirima, aPPoInted

Michael Waweru.

Karanja Kibicho, aPPoInted Mary Muthoni.

Sicily Kariuki, noMinee

FORTuNE SACCO IN KAGIO


Fortune Sacco has opened a new branch in Kagio town as part of its expansion plans to reach closer to its customers.

Fortune Sacco is one of the leading sacco’s in Kirinyaga County, offering full range of sacco banking services in-cluding trade financing among others.

“The new branch is meant to improve our outreach to our customers in Kagio and surrounding areas. It is a testimony that we are committed to serve our customers whenever they are,” said the Sacco’s Chief Executive Amos Kimotho.

Fortune Sacco has emerged as major financier of micro and small scale enterprises in Kirinyaga County with its Mwelekeo Business Account that enables account holders to access a Cheque book. Recently, the bank introduced a mobile banking facility to ensure that customers access their money whenever they are.

Last year, the Sacco partnered with ABC Bank to provide to its members with cheque clearing services and trade fi-nance facility of up to Ksh200 million. Under the arrange-ment, customers can also benefit from bid bonds and per-formance guarantees; enabling those winning government tenders to get easier financing.

Other products offered by the sacco include; Kilimo Ad-vance Loan, Kilimo Working Capital Loan, Kilimo Devel-opment Loan, Kilimo Asset Finance, Micro Finance Loan, Inuka (Biashara Working Capital Loan), Group Loan (Cha-ma), SME Loans, Kahawa Account and a host of savings products, Sacco Junior Account, Dhahabu Fixed Account, and Premium Savings Account.

Fortune Sacco opens Kagio branch

POTENTIAL APPOINTEES?

BY RICHARD MUGO

People Living with Disabilities in Kirinyaga in conjunction with the County Government have

launched Kipawa Chetu Sacco Society which will enable them improve their financial welfare.

The Sacco was launched at the Kirinya-ga University College grounds during this year’s International Day for the Disabled.

During the occasion, the PwDs exhibit-ed their skills in weaving, carpentry and creative arts. Currently, there are about 30,000 people living with disabilities in the county.

“Already, we have established a Di-rectorate within the county under the Gender , Youth and Sport docket which is headed by a person with disability whose role will be to articulate their is-sues and also ensure inclusivity,” said Governor Joseph Ndathi.

“We will set up a display center in Ku-tus town where these high quality goods I have seen today can be displayed for sale even on line and including some spe-

cial kiosks we intend to put up in all our towns and markets,” Ndathi said.

At the same time, the Governor said that the government has set aside Sh3 million to cover medical expenses through NHIF for PWDs and the elderly

The PwD community expressed its gratitude noting that they now feel part of the society and are contented since the rest of the community have changed its perception in the recent past.

“I am very excited that I have had a chance to see the county leadership here today,” said Joseph Muriithi, a deaf per-son from Kiini ward.

Another disabled person, Pauline Njeri said, “These are some of the develop-ments we have been longing for. A Sacco for the disabled is a great idea and a great avenue which will liberate us from the dire financial strains we have been expe-riencing in the past.”

“The move is very significant move that these people have been patiently waiting for so many years, financial em-powerment,” said Grace Murimi the Prin-cipal Kerugoya School for the Deaf.

DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR6 COUNTY BRIEFS

KTDA signs Sh5.5b loan to build power stations

ABOUT USMT. KENYA STAR newspaper is published monthly byMT. KENYA STAR PUBLISHERS.

Managing Editor: Steve Mbogo

Business Dev. Manager: Mary Mugo

Correspondents: Alice Wambui, Elias Njeru, Lucy Muthoni, Alex Mwangi, Julius Wahome, Richard Mugo, Kamundia Muriithi

Mount Kenya Region Headquarters: Kiricorp House, 4th Floor, Kerugoya Town.

Nairobi Headquarters: Lonak Business Centre, 2nd Floor, Room 14, Kasarani, next to Naivas.

Office Hotline: 0707648755.

Other Contacts: 0722214261 / 0722792810.



The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) has signed Sh5.5 billion loan agreement with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, in partnership with the Global Agricul-

ture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), The French Development Institution (Proparco), and The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) to fund the construction of seven small hydropow-er projects (SHPs) across tea growing regions.

The mini hydro projects are intended to reduce the cost of energy for each tea factory, which currently forms their single biggest cost component.

The funding is in line with KTDA’s long-term strategy to ensure that tea factories have access to alternative renewable forms of energy that will reduce operational costs in factories. The excess power generated will be sold to the national grid, providing farmers with an additional revenue stream.

Construction of each hydro power project will take two to three years to complete and to be fully operational. The seven hydropower projects will create approximately 2,100 jobs during construction and 60 jobs following commissioning. Each of the power plants will have an installed capacity ranging from 1.1MW to 6.5MW.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, KTDA CEO Lerionka Tiampati said that KTDA was happy to receive this funding to construct additional hydropower projects in tea growing zones. He added that the impact on these initiatives is not only beneficial to the factories but also to the social economic activities of the communities living in those areas.

“Construction of three hydropower projects in Gura, Chania and North Mathioya are at advanced stages, funded by an earlier credit line from AFD (French Agency for Development). With the funding that we have received today, construction works for Nyambunde, Kiringa, Kipsonoi and Nyamasege SHPs will commence in 2016.

Oumar Seydi, IFC Director for Eastern and Southern Africa said, “Reducing costs of processing will help make Kenya’s tea sector more competitive in a global marketplace and increase revenues for the 560,000 farmers who supply green leaf to the 66 KTDA-managed tea factories.”

Suzanne Gaboury, Director of Agribusiness at FMO said “After providing long-term finance to KTDA’s micro-finance company, Greenland Fedha, in 2014, FMO will now be involved in a project that can generate reliable and clean energy for KTDA’s tea processing factories. It should demonstrate the business case for small-scale renewable energy projects in the region.”

KTDA Power Company (KTPC), a subsidiary of KTDA Holdings, will develop the projects in an effort to power the tea factories with renewable energy in the short and medium term. They aspire to not only offer consultancy on energy solutions within the region but also to become an Independent Power Producer (IPP) with a number of projects under its portfolio.

Commenting on the total amount invested in the projects, KTDA (Holdings) Chairman, Peter Kanyago noted, “We have managed to negotiate for the repayment of the loan over a period of 10 years with a three year grace period.”

Amaury Mulliez, Chief Investment Officer of Proparco said, “By providing reliable and clean energy to tea factories, this project will also reduce the carbon footprint of the country by an approximate 63,000a tons of CO2-equivalent per year”

On average, individual tea factories spend approximately Sh30 million to Sh65 million annually on electricity, depending on factory size, crop level and the variable costs such as fuel cost adjustment and forex that are used by Kenya Power in the calculation of electricity bills.

njoka Muturi, Managing director, KIrIWaSCo

Kirinyaga Water and Sanitation Company (KIRIWASCO) has appointed Njoka Muturi was the new Managing Director.

Muturi previously worked as a consultant for the Kenya National Electronic Single Window System, a project under Kenya Trade Network Agency, a parastatal under The National Treasury.

Muturi is an American trained accountant. He holds a Masters Degree in Finance from Ken-yatta University and is a mem-ber of Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK)

The new managing director has commissioned re-engi-neering strategies to ensure a raise in revenue base of KIRIWASCO within the first six months of this appointment.

ChallenGeSThe new managing director will however need to solve some immediate challenges that consumers have com-plained about.

Among the issues are alle-gations of vandalism of the company’s water pipes in Kutus. Business community in Kutus alleges that KIRIWASCO pipes are vandalized in Kutus by unknown people so that they can benefit from fetching water from the river.

They say without vandalism, a good flow of KIRIWASCO water to town, including water from other sources, will be sufficient for the town without need to fetch unhygienic water from Kiringa River.

The other challenge the man-aging director will also need to address is the allegations that water flowing to Baricho and down to Kagio is not filtered and treated.

APPOINTMENT: KIRIWASCO MD RECOGNITION

Professor Mary Ndung’u, the Principal, KyUC has been recognized by

‘researchgate’, a global network of scientists that

share research concepts and outcomes on a peer review platform, through discussions, citations and collaboration. The group highlights achievements

of and commends researchers whose findings generate sizeable interest and citations by peers working in related

disciplines. Professor Ndung’u whose research

output is currently on the “peer spotlight” and has attracted

at least 300 citations as at November 12, 2015 has been recognized for her recent contributions in the discipline of Organic Chemistry and applications to humankind. We join the entire KyUC family congratulate Professor Ndung’u on this

achievement.

Prof. Mary Ndung’u, the Principal, Kirinyaga University College

Kipawa Chetu Sacco launched

MT. KENYA STAR REPORTER

Kirinyaga Central parliamentary aspirant Josiah Murigu has urged leaders in Kirinyaga to join hands irrespective of their political differences

for the sake of development.Murigu said the current status in the county where

leaders have failed to come together has affected the county’s progress and dimmed its national voice.

“The leaders must be united and support each other for the sake of development. We can square it out when elections come but before that, the opportunity to collab-orate should be utelised,” he said.

He attributed failure to unite to the failure of effective lobbying that could have seen a person from Kirinyaga appointed to the Cabinet to replace Waiguru.

“The challenges we have as a county are many and they require our collective efforts to ensure that we re-duce them to ensure our people live in better conditions,” he said.

Murigu is a former journalist and now a businessman in Nairobi. He hails from Kiandieri.

Murigu urges unity among leaders

Josiah Murigu.

NEWS 7MT KENYA STARDECEMBER 2015

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BY BLOOMBERG

Kenyan tea growers are diver-sifying into higher-priced varieties as tastes change

and prices of the black variety of the beverage the East African producer is known for becoming volatile.

From the rich volcanic soils on the slopes of Mount Kenya to the cool highlands of the Rift Valley, growers are either planting a new variant with purplish leaves or converting produc-tion from the common bush to more lucrative types; white, green and or-thodox.

Meru-based Njeru Industries has 150 acres (60 hectares) under pur-ple bushes and has been exporting 60,000 kilograms annually to Japan at Sh3,000 per kilogram, according to Director Roselyne Njoki. In com-parison, the top grade of conven-

tional black tea, of which Kenya is the world’s biggest exporter, sold for about Sh300 per kilogram at the lat-est auction.

“We are purely a specialty grow-er,” Njoki said by phone, adding that there was more demand for the purple variant than the other three specialty teas Njeru produces on 350 acres for sale in Britain and Chi-na. White tea earns the company as much as Sh4,000 per kilogram, she said.

The United Nations’ Food and Ag-riculture Organisation sees supply and demand for black tea “in equi-librium” at a price of about Sh280 per kilogram compared to an aver-age of Sh260 per kilogram this year. Prices may drop by as much as 40 percent by 2023 if producers around the world increase supply by about 5

percent, the FAO said in a statement posted on its website, advising grow-er nations to promote domestic de-mand and diversify into organic and specialist teas to protect earnings.

asian market

The purple kind was developed by Kenya’s Tea Research Institute. The government agency says the variety may hold medicinal properties. In Japan, Njeru’s customers are turning the leaves into capsules and creams used in the beauty industry, Njoki said.

Consumers around the world are also switching to varieties considered healthier for carrying high levels of anti-oxidants or less caffeine, said Elizabeth Kimenyi, the interim head of the Tea Directorate, the industry regulator. Purple tea contains antho-cyanin, a pigment rich in health-pro-moting flavonoids, that gives it its reddish tinge, according to Njoki.

Orthodox tea -- derived from the same bushes as black tea but pro-cessed differently -- earns between Sh700 and Sh2,500 per kilogram, ac-cording to Robert Keter, Chief Execu-tive at Emrok Tea Factory. It is man-ufactured using a traditional process that includes a longer fermentation period and hand rolling whole leaves, instead of the crash, tear, curl, or CTC, method used in black-tea processing.

Four-year-old Emrok churns out 400 kilograms of orthodox leaves in addition to the 15,000-kilogram daily output of black tea. It has also plant-ed purple bushes on a portion of its 1,000-acre (405-hectare) estate.

“It’s the way to go to secure Kenya’s tea industry,” Emrok’s Keter said in an interview in the capital, Nairobi. “There is market for purple tea. It’s

particularly well received in Asia.”

Price shocks

Drought this year may cut black-tea output by a 10th to about 400,000 tons, according to the government agency. The drop in supply has pushed average prices up by about 43 percent this year, after they fell 26 percent in 2014, according to data from Tea Brokers East Africa Ltd., a Mombasa-based trader.

“Diversification is the way to go to boost prices,” said Edward Mudibo, Managing Director of East Africa Tea Trade Association. “It will act as a shock absorber when there is over-supply of tea like there was in 2014.”

Kenya exports 95 percent of the tea it produces, Mudibo said. Top buyers include Britain, Egypt and Sudan, whose purchases help generate about Sh100 billion of foreign-currency earnings annually.

Most of it is black tea sold an auc-tion in the port city of Mombasa. The weekly sale that handles over 70 percent of tea exported from Kenya would require large volumes before trading specialty types, Mudibo said.

Prices for black tea have been so un-stable that the 3,000-acre Kiptagich Tea Estates contemplated clearing some of its crop and replacing it with gum trees, Marketing Manager Ed-win Bii said in an interview.

To avoid such drastic action by growers, the government is now mooting a fund to guarantee farmers a minimum price when prices slide, according to Kimenyi.

“While we still study income stabi-lization mechanisms, we are asking farmers not to uproot their the tea trees, but to diversify,” she said.

Tea growers go purple for more money

BY MT KENYA STAR REPORTER

A bomb found in a cow shed at Gathuthuma vil-lage in Kirinyaga County was denoted at Mount Kenya, in the presence of onlookers.

The bomb is said to have been found farmer was do-ing a general cleaning of the shed when he discovered unknown metallic substance he later called the police where they discovered it was a bomb.

It took the police half an hour to retrieve the explo-sive which was stuck in mud with the residents receiv-ing a few tips on how to handle explosives.

Bomb experts took the 300mm explosive, which weighed 5kg, to Mount Kenya forest, seven kilometres away from homesteads, where it was detonated.

The bomb is said to have been used during the colo-nial regime to fight Mau Mau fighters in Mount Kenya forest.

Kirinyaga Deputy Police Commander Charles Ontita asked the residents to report to the police when they encounter any metallic substances in the area, believed to have been a battle zone during the Colonial era. He warned scrap metal dealers to be wary of any suspi-cious-looking metals which may be weapons.

Colonial bomb detonated

NEWS8 MT KENYA STARDECEMBER 2015

BY BOB KOIGI

With more than 200 dairy cows and produc-ing over 2,000 litres of

milk every day, and an upcom-ing dairy processing plant, James Murimi is Kirinyaga’s top dairy farmer.

His is a story of a childhood love for animals that has meta-morphosed into an award win-ning dairy empire for 41 year old computer specialist James Murimi, in a classic model that exemplifies sustainable farming for business.

Murimi, who comes from Kiburu in Ndia, has always loved animals since he was a child. He would go on to take a career in information communication technology (ICT), but his pas-sion for animals never waned. He would, in 2008, actualize this plan when after keeping 10 cows, he decided to visit countries that prides themselves in global good dairy farming practices including South Africa, Netherlands, Israel and Ireland to learn.

Three years of research would turn into a serious dairy venture that birthed Olumara Farm, a five

acre farm tucked in Kirimaini area of Kirinyaga County. The farm is home to 200 dairy cows. “I knew from my childhood that dairy farming was meant for me. It is however one thing to have passion but another to ensure that the passion transforms to success. I had to combine both. That is why I invested in learning global dairy best practices from the industry’s very best,” said Murimi.

Such practices include gentle treatment of the animals. Mu-rimi believes if the animals are to produce to their optimum, good care should be extended to them. It is a policy in the farm that no-body should whip any cow at any one time.

“Instead I teach my workers to call the animals by name. The cows have senses, and feelings so they need to be treated as part of my family,” he added. So dedicat-ed is Murimi to his dairy farming that he comfortably manages to juggle between his ICT job and his passion. He works Monday to Wednesday in Nairobi then heads to Kirinyaga to tend to his cows until Sunday. “This is a labour of love, of course I will

always find time for my cows,” he said affection evident in voice. Murimi has also embraced green energy in the farm, having set a biogas plant from the cows’ ma-nure. He has also installed solar panels to light the farm.

On average the farm produc-es 2,000 litres of milk each day with prime markets being con-centrated in Nairobi. Mrs. Julie Murimi, Murimi’s wife, who has an extensive background in mar-keting, handles the marketing aspect of the business which in-cludes sourcing for new markets

and keeping her pulse on market trends. Mrs. Murimi also assists local farmers in marketing their milk.

But Murimi understands that he cannot drive a milk revolution alone. He has tagged smallhold-er farmers in various aspects of farming which include sharing information on best practices. He has bought a tractor which he gives out to farmers free of charge for tillage. He also gives the farmers the manure from his cows and in return farmers give him maize stalks for his cows’ consumption. The symbiotic re-lationship has also seen farmers benefit from training that was extended to them when Murimi’s friends from Ireland, who are avid dairy farmers, visited his farm. “That was one of the high-lights of my dairy business. To see the enthusiasm in farmers as my Ireland farmer friends shared with them the fortunes that dairy farming carries. I live for such moments,” he added.

Murimi’s farm is now collab-orating with the County Gov-ernment of Kirinyaga to run farmer training programmes in the farm with a view to enticing more farmers into professionally embracing dairy at a time when markets are opening up for milk. “We are also tapping into our school going children and want to train them from a tender age the benefits that accrue from dairy farming. If they come and witness firsthand how this hap-pens then we will have inculcat-ed a sense of pride in farming,” Murimi said.

Such fervent dedication and military precision impressed the judges of the 2015 National Farm-ers Awards who visited his farm. Olumara farm was voted the overall winner in the small-scale farmer fully commercialized cat-egory of the awards countrywide. Murimi shared the award cere-mony podium with Hon. Joseph Ndathi the governor of Kirinyaga County who couldn’t hide his joy.

Having breathed new life to the dairy sector in Kirinyaga County, there is no end in sight to Murimi’s dreams. He now hopes to soon set up a fully-fledged milk processing plant which upon completion will process 20,000 litres of milk per day. “We have seen that it is possible, so we will do it. We want to inspire children, our farmers, and most importantly our youth. Tell them that farming is where the present meets the future,” he said.

BY BOB KOIGI

Behind towering coffee bushes that envelops coffee cherries, succulent rows of spinaches,

and banana plants sprouting from the earth like magic beanstalks is the heartwarming story of Florence Nyawira’s farm in Kirinyaga Coun-ty which saw her crowned the best Kenyan farmer in the Women in agri-culture category of the 2015 National Farmers Awards.

Nyawira’s farm is synonymous with hardwork and discipline. Every-one has their work cut out in a seam-less and well-coordinated affair that leaves nothing to chance. And though it appears herculean and tiresome it has paid off, taking the pride of place in Kenya after she was crowned win-ner and got a chance to shake hands with the president.

Nyawira’s debut in agriculture and the ultimate journey to stardom hasn’t been a clear cut path. Her first farming experience was with low yielding disease prone coffee vari-eties. She had to uproot over 700 of them. “They were very uneconomi-cal. I would spend so much time, la-bour and resources yet ended up with nothing in returns. They were also so prone to diseases and pests that I was constantly buying pesticides and had to use a lot to keep them alive. I had to make tough decisions,” she said. But the tough decisions would turn around her fortunes for the better when she decided to embrace the Ba-tian and Ruiru grafted varieties. The two are high yielding and are highly resistant to pest and disease attacks. She currently has 1400 such coffee trees which gave her 12,000 kilos in the last harvest with the factory pay-ing her Sh71 per kilo, a far cry from the hundreds of kilos she was getting from the previous trees. She antici-pates she will hit more than 20,000 kilos in the next harvest.

But Nyawira is enterprising and inquisitive, as evidenced in the de-gree of enthusiasm she exhibits in learning anything on agriculture whether it’s a new pest or a new crop management practice. Such drive would move her to explore more crops to fill her four acre piece of land. “Coffee had started to do well, and I was happy. But I felt that was not enough. Coffee though lucrative is a very volatile crop. I needed alter-natives to insulate myself in case of market eventualities,” she said.

After joining Njata ya Njumbi Farmers group, an association that pulls together like minded food pro-ducers in Kirinyaga County with a view to finding prime markets for their produce, Nyawira became con-vinced there was money and ripe markets for bananas. She visited Jomo Kenyatta University of Agricul-ture and Technology where she got tissue culture banana seedlings. Now 600 towering banana plants occupy a section of her 4 acre farm earning her on average 15 per kilo. “Through the power of numbers in our farmer group we found buyers who buy a kilo of the bananas at Sh15. It is such a lucrative venture and a departure from the eyeball estimate model which is predominant in the county and which gives farmers a raw deal,” said Nyawira whose greatest inspi-ration is his husband James Nyamu and her four children.

Her appetite for new things has seen her embrace horticultural farm-ing through cultivation of spinach. She has embraced rabbit urine as the fertilizer for her spinach. The demand has been pent up and immediate to an extent that it surprises her. Every week she harvests 1,000 kilos which have found ready market in the ex-pansive Kagio market. Traders flock her farm every week haggling over the price. She has managed to nego-tiate a Sh14 per kilo payment. “That is 14,000 each week on my spinach alone. I intend to increase the area under cultivation,” she added.

On another portion of her land, she grows maize and beans. The good farming tidings have seen her buy an extra land which she grows napier grass to feed her cows. Her farm-ing enterprise has found a breath of fresh air from her daughter who has introduced systems and process-es. Nyawira admits that she used to farm without tracking the progress of her spending. Her daughter Ev-elyne Nyawira, a trained computer engineer decided to dump her career in order to assist her mother in the farm. “She has been what I desper-ately needed. She is very meticulous about anything we do on the farm. For example how much fertilizer are we buying at what cost, is there a cheaper and high quality alternative? How much do we anticipate to sell this week, how does it compare to the previous harvest. The record keeping has been key in transforming the farming business. She is the guardian angel in the farm,” Nyawira added.

The Kirinyaga County’s agricul-tural iron fist in a velvet glove has attracted huge attention since being declared the best agricultural woman in Kenya by Elgon Kenya Ltd.

Kirinyaga produces Kenya’s best woman in agriculture

THE BEST IN AGRICULTURE

James Murimi with his wife Julie Murimi (left) pose for a photo with Governor Joseph ndathi (middle) after Murimi was announced winner during the national Farmers awards.

Florence njiraini when she was crowned winner in the women in agricuture category of the 2015 Farmers awards.

How Murimi has built a dairy empire

He now hopes to soon set up a fully-fledged milk processing plant which upon completion will process 20,000 litres of milk per day.

GAChARu TEChNICAl TRAINING COllEGE the Gacharu technical training College project is funded by the national Government at a tune of Sh40 million while ndia Constituency development Fund (CdF) has contributed Sh10 million. this project is expected to be completed in 2016. It will train youths on technical courses.


BY BOB KOIGI

Buffeted by an unprecedented spike in prices of conventional animal feeds that have been

on a meteoric rise since 2010, a group of farmers in Mwea has courted the nutritious beetroot as fodder for their livestock. The farmers are now recording a doubling of milk yields even as pasture dwindles due to va-garies of weather.

Visions Farmer Group, an associa-tion of 40 farmers who work together to promote the welfare of each other, came together in 2011 after suffering from a spate of dry spells that took a toll on their livestock. “I personal-ly lost four cows to the drought that was there. I had cleared all my land off all the napier I had planted, went for the maize cobs just to get them fed. But things got worse every day and within no time I couldn’t sustain them. Again nobody wanted to buy them because they had been so ema-ciated,” said Kinyua Kahenga, the leader of the group.

The price of the conventional feeds had also hit unprecedent-ed highs in what industry players blamed on lack of raw materials like maize. The Price of popular feeds like wheat bran, maize germ and fish meal more than doubled pushing farmers out of alternatives.

But Kinyua’s late father had nev-er fed his cows on any convention-al feed and only relied on napier grass which he mixed with beetroot.

“And in all that time he did it and I watched him as a small boy, at no time was there a problem with lack of pasture or animals struggling with fodder. I decided to revisit the idea,” he said.

He planted beetroots in quarter of an acre and upon maturity mixed them with other fodder for his six dairy cows. “I immediately noticed an increase in the amount of milk I was getting. Besides, mixing the na-pier with beet root meant that the cows consumed less,” he said.

Beetroot seeds take on average two weeks to sprout, and three months to reach maturity. The crop is low cost in production requiring minimum attention as it is rarely at-tacked by pests or diseases.

He has now dedicated an acre of his four acre piece of land to beet root production. He also managed to convince his neighbours and friends about it through Visions Farmers group. “Of course like everything else the fellow farmers received the news with so much skepticism. But after visiting my farm and using my farm as a demonstration plot I managed to win them over. Now out of the 40 members of the group, 25 of them, mostly those in dairy farming, have planted beet root,” he said.

Joyce Gichiku another group

member has never known peace since she started dairy farming in 2012. The price spike forced her to supplement the feeds with local low quality grasses like napier. Since being introduced to beetroot by Vi-sions group she has increased her cows from four to eight and boosted average daily milk production to 10 liters per cow each day. “I no longer buy animal feeds because I cannot see the logic. I was haemorrhaging fi-nancially with the feeds yet I was get-ting nothing. With beet root it means I can comfortably mix other low nutritional fodder like napier grass and manage to up my daily milk pro-duction. It also means I can grow the fodder throughout the year without worrying about when the rains will come,” said Mrs. Gichiku. She now

saves on average Sh15,000 on feeds and nutritional supplements every month.

The vegetable crop has partic-ularly gained admiration among Mwea farmers due to its ability to withstand erratic weather for long unlike other crops. It is also succu-lent, retaining a lot of water even in dry spells, which makes it a favourite among livestock farmers not just in Mwea but in arid areas.

Beetroots are fed to cows during milking with at least four kilos of beet root mixed with other fodder daily. The bulbous wonder crop is respected world over for its superi-or nutritional and medicinal value. Scientists say that a kilo of beetroot is three times more nutritious than that of conventional feeds.

Beet root is the new livestock feed in Mwea

Kerugoya new-born in need of Sh2m for

urgent surgery


A three-month baby boy is admitted to Keru-goya County hospital in critical condition af-ter being diagnosed with a rare type of heart

disease, truncus arteriosus, that occurs at birth.According to doctors at the hospital, the case is

complicated because the mother is a Form One stu-dent at a nearby secondary school. Doctors treating the child said the boy requires urgent surgery in India since no local hospital provides such service.

Kerugoya hospital doctor in charge of Pediatric de-partment, Philis Njiri said the family needs at least Sh2 million to rectify the complication is caused by there being a single blood vessel coming out of the right and left ventricles, instead of the normal two vessels (pulmonary artery and aorta).

She warned that if left untreated and more than normal blood flows to the lungs for a long time, the blood vessels to the lungs become permanently dam-aged causing death.

“Over time, it becomes very hard for the heart to force blood to them. This is called pulmonary hyper-tension, which can be life-threatening.”

Kirinyaga county Assembly nominated MCA Caro-line Maribe urged well-wishers to come to the aid of the child saying that the mother who is also a child from a poor background cannot raise the required amount. Well wishers can contribute to the baby’s medical fund through account number is 0100165766124 equity Bank or paybill no. 247247

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BY RICHARD MUGO

A team of Kirinyaga rice farmers visiting Egypt have praised the national

system that requires a section of

graduates to either chose to join public jobs or be supported into rice farming.

“Graduates who settle on agriculture are allocated with five acres of land within the Nile Valley

to produce rice,” said David Njogu, the manager at the Mwea Rice and Market Oriented Agriculture Promotion Project (Rice MAPP).

He said besides the free land, the graduates are also provided with cheap farm inputs and other incentives which motivate them into the agribusiness.

“The move, according to the Egyptian agricultural experts is meant to preserve the rice growing culture which dates back to the seventh century as the produce forms part of the staple food for the locals,” Njogu said.

The manager said these graduates end up being the best rice producers in their country and longed for the day their Kenyan counterparts will embrace farming as a profession.

The farmers have in the meantime asked the county government to put adequate measures to control the Quelea birds’ menace as they have already begun to roost near the farms.

The birds pose a threat to the farmers’ production as they cause massive destruction to the rice grain and consume an average of 10 grams each daily while they fly in swarms of numbering several hundred thousands .

According to the County Chief Officer for Agriculture John Gachingiri, over 10 million such quelea quelea birds are expected to invade the Mwea Irrigation scheme this ongoing crop season as the county government is readying to rein in the menace.

This means that if they invade, they will consume an estimated 100,000 kilograms marking a huge setback for the rice farmers unless

the situation is put under control.The Chief Officer said that the

menace can only be controlled once relevant information concerning the movement and the origin of the destructive birds has been revealed.

“We have a team of specialists conducting a research to establish the origin of these birds so that we can put the right measures in place once information revealing their movements has been put across,” Gachingiri said.

The Chief Officer was speaking at the Nice Digital City in Mwea when a team of eleven stakeholders presented their report detailing observations made during a weeklong tour to Egypt.

Njogu observed that the quelea quelea birds menace prevalent in Mwea is no bother to the Egyptians since the country has no trees due to the desert condition as the birds do not find a place to perch before or after they invade the rice farms.

At the same time, the team observed that Egypt has succeeded in encouraging youth to venture into rice farming through soft loans.

This, the team noted, this can be replicated in Kirinyaga by providing cheaper interest loan access for the youths as well as subsidizing agricultural inputs by the government to encourage the young entrepreneurs to engage in rice and horticultural farming as a source of income and creation of the highly sought after job opportunities.

They pointed out that Egypt is a perfect example to learn from as it produces rice for domestic consumption and export purposes despite being a desert nation.

How Egypt beats Kenya in rice production

equity Group Managing director and Ceo dr. James Mwangi receives the 2015 ai40 Ceo of the year award from africa Investor Ceo and Vice Chairman, hubert danso during the 8th annual africa Investor (ai) Ceo Investment Summit held in new york. equity Bank was also named the Best Performing ai40 Company from a shortlist of top 40 largest and most liquid publicly-traded stocks by market capitalization and liquidity as measured by average daily value traded in US dollars.

NJOROGE KABURO

Residents of Kirinya-ga have been urged to treat people liv-

ing with various disabilities equally and embrace them into the society to enable them take part in the county growth.

The Governor Joseph Ndathi called on parents and guardians living with physi-cally and mentally challenged folks to come out and seek assistance from the relevant authorities within the County.

“Parents and guardians should expose their children living with disabilities and involve them in various proj-ects because they have the potential to impact the world positively”, he said.

The Governor was speaking to parents and guests who attended parent’s Education day at the Kerugoya School for the blind.

“One of the priority proj-ects that we will implement to benefit this institution is to improve the access road con-

necting the Institution from town to enable easy access during severe weather condi-tion,” he said.

The Governor further di-rected deployment of a Clini-cal Officer to be stationed in the institution to allow learn-ers acquire quality health-care. “This school is the face of Kirinyaga and it puts our County on the Country and World map for their sterling performance in the National exams,” noted the Governor.

The Principal of the Insti-tution Ms. Grace Murimi said the strategic plan that was launched at the event will be used to guide the institution’s mandate to offer quality edu-cation to the challenged learn-ers from across the country.

Kerugoya School for the Deaf is a Public Boarding Primary School for the hear-ing impaired learners (Deaf) and also learners who are deaf blind. It has a total of 190 students with 101 boys and 99 boys. The institution is the best performing school of its category in the country.

Residents urged to accept disabled people

BY RICHARD MUGO

Residents of Kangai Ward in Mwea Sub County are call-ing for urgent humanitarian

assistance after the area flooded by the ongoing rains.

About 3,000 families of Kariua, Kamarandi and Marura villages have been displaced after their homes were marooned by rain wa-ter caused by rains.

Their livestock has also not been spared by the torrential rains ongo-

ing rains.Goats, poultry and several cows

were carried away by the raging wa-ters while the residents were evacu-ated to higher grounds.

The area which is under Kangai Ward is prone to floods due to irri-gation canals and some small rivers whose banks have burst due to the high velocity of the waters.

Kangai MCA John Gitari said that Kariua Village was badly hit due to the siltation of the main drain which cuts the village right in the middle.

“Unless de-silting of the main

drain is carried out immediately, this problem will not be resolved any time soon since the rains are not ending tomorrow,” the MCA said.

He also said that the residents are exposed to possible outbreak of wa-ter borne diseases especially cholera, dysentery and malaria and a lasting solution was only relocation of the families to safer grounds.

“Due to high water levels in these villages, the pit latrines are flooded with raw human waste left floating anyhow, thereby creating a condu-cive environment for an outbreak of

many diseases,” Gatari said.A resident Boniface Murage re-

called how he heard a loud noised caused by the falling of his house which had been hit by the waters whose velocity was very high at about 3 am.

“I only remember to evacuate my three small children who have by this time have not even had their breakfast since there is nothing to feed them on,” Murage said.

Area Assistant Chief Stanley Waweru said that the only solution was to relocate the families to an-

other place as lasting solution to the unending problem.

The administrator said since the affected families lost their food-stuffs, domestic belongings and their houses; the Red Cross should move in fast and provide them with emergency supplies.

The Kangai – Kariua road has also been rendered impassable after a nearby dam burst its banks and flooded the facility forcing residents to use an oxcart to cross the affected one kilometer stretch.

Floods cause

havoc in Mwea

AWARDS

BY NJOROGE KABURO

County Government of Kirinya-ga has started a maiden youth football and volleyball tourna-ment which will take place ev-ery year beginning at the ward level.

The tournament, initiated under the slogan ‘sakata boli wacha pombe’ (quit drugs, adopt sport) is aimed at boost-ing youth talents and encour-aging them to shun drugs and adopt a healthy living.

“The youth can earn a liv-ing by engaging actively in the sports, and my Government

will ensure that they get the best facilities,” said the Gov-ernor Joseph Ndathi when he

presented awards to winners of the County Football &Volleyball Youth Tournament held at Ker-ugoya Stadium on Sunday.

Kirinyaga County Sports Director Evelyn Muthoni un-derscored the need to bring up more young people in the sport arena. “The tournament’s main cause is out to identify talents, and emerging stars within the County and support them take up sport as profitable venture,” pointed out Ms. Evelyn.

Winners of the finals were awarded with uniforms, cash prizes and trophies. Teams that held 2nd, 3rd and fourth posi-tions were also awarded with cash prizes.

In men Football, Gatunguru FC triumphed 10-9 against Ki-aumbui (Barcelona) on a cut-throat encounter which saw the two teams end up in penalty kick out after a 2-2 draw during normal time plus fifteen min-utes over time.

Women football was domi-nated by Kanju Women Club after beating Kabonge Women FC 6-1. In men Volleyball, Kagio United won two sets against Kianyaga Rising after winning with 8points while Gathambi Women volleyball conquered by gaining 4 points ahead of Ki-rinyaga County Assembly team in the female category. The four male and female teams will represent Kirinyaga in Kwale County starting 28th of this month.

SPORTS 11MT KENYA STARDECEMBER 2015

New annual county football, volleyball tournament

BY RICHARD MUGO

Kirinyaga County Cancer Awareness Marathon that was held in DECEM-BER raised Sh4 million, money that will be used to create cancer aware-ness and equip selected health facil-ities with cancer screening equip-ment, officials said.

According to the Chief Officer Min-istry of Sports and Culture Ephraim Munene, Sh2 million was raised from the sponsors while a similar amount was raised from participants.

The event held at the Kirinyaga University attracted more than 2,000 participants from across the country that included professional and ama-teur athletes.

Governor Joseph Ndathi, who flagged off the 21 kilometer race said that in the last one year alone, about 730 cancer victims were identified in the county while 138 out of this figure died during the same period.

He said that had awareness been created, such a big number of area residents would not have lost their lives.

“After realizing the need to sensi-tize the residents about this incurable disease, we came up with the idea of having a marathon race where our people would get information regard-ing cancer,” he said.

He said prostrate and throat can-cer as well leukemia were the most prevalent in the area and continue to ravage many residents due to lack of information on how the disease could be prevented from advancing in their bodies.

He said once the screening be-comes operational, it will be easier and faster to diagnose the disease and to take the necessary measures the patient requires.

He said cancer treatment was the highest consumer of family budgets due to the high cost of drugs and medicines while most of those affect-ed can hardly afford medication.

He also said that a research to es-tablish why the disease has become prevalent in the county will be initi-ated with a view to using the findings as a means to counter the menace, which is becoming a disaster.

Cancer marathon raises Sh4m

Gov. ndathi (right) and Central region athletics Kenya Chairman david Miano (center) awards Shellmith Muriuki from Kirinyaga the winner of County Cancer awareness Marathon.

x

BY RICHARD MUGO

Kirinyaga University emerged top after thrashing Dume FC from Kangai 3-0 during the 7-a-side football tournament held at Kerugoya Stadium.

The University team topped after the first clubs Stallion FC from Karia and Kangai FC match ended in a 0-0 draw.

The teams engaged each other in the energetic matches despite heavy rains pounding most of the day leading to ex-tended delays between the matches.

The organizers, Kirinyaga Abai Gen-eration expected about 40 football clubs from across the county but there was low turnout as the event coincided with the county’s sponsored tournament.

Nevertheless, the organizers described the event as successful being the first of its kind in the region and a turning point in Kirinyaga football scene as it is purposely meant to create awareness amongst the young generation.

“The event has been successful and we are still going to woo more sponsors to chip in as this is an annual event,” said Kariuki Karuri one of the organizers.

The tournament is meant to facilitate capacity building for the youths on finan-cial management as well as encouraging the unpopular saving culture which is the only avenue to prosperity.

The organization which consists of Kirinyaga residents working outside the county and on various professions is determined to improve the lives of the community as a way of giving back to the society.

“If the youths are not busy or lack finan-cial literacy on money management, then definitely they will divert their attention toward misguided activities,” said Patrick Mithamo from Kagumo area but based in Nairobi where he works as an internal auditor.

A Bingwa Sacco official present at the event urged the football clubs in the coun-ty to be registered as youth groups in or-der to access loans after savings and use the funds to establish projects.

“We want to enlighten the young gener-ation on matters concerning savings and financial management,” said Caesar Wan-jau Gichangi of Bingwa Sacco.

Youth learn savings culture through football

BY MT. KENYA STAR CORRESPONDENT

Kenya competitors failed to quali-fy for Olympics in canoeing sports whose Africa qualifications were held at Sagana River in DECEM-BER.

The competition attracted 25 contestants from other seven for-eign countries among them Sudan, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Uganda and Togo

Jonathan Akiyemi from Nige-ria qualified for the K1 men, JP Bourhis from Senegal qualified for the C1Men, and Hind Jamali from Morocco qualified for the K1 women.

The Kenyan team had seven contestants but only two got two

medals but missed the third medal. Morocco and Senegal qualified for the Olympics.

According to Titus Mukundi, the Kenyan Team Coach, the hosts were not able to keep up with their competitors due to poor training and poor facilities.

Mukundi said the equipment used by his team were donated by the International Canoeing Federa-tion back in 2008 and that they are already worn out.

He also cited lack of adequate facilitation from the Government as one of the major challenges as the participants don’t get their pay and other allowances like the other counterparts in other sports.

The Coach said the Government ought to recognize canoeing just like other sports pointing that it can take the country to greater heights pointing out that Kenya has one of the best canoeing cours-es in Africa; the other one is in South Africa.

“It is sad that we can host an in-ternational competition yet we fail to proceed to the next level due to lack of proper equipments and oth-

Kenyan canoers defeated at Sagana

Football & Volleyball >

Saving through Sports >> Canoeing >>

Kirinyaga University (in green) plays against dume FC during the 7-a-side tournament at the Kerugoya Stadium. the University team won 3-0.

BY RICHARD MUGO

Heavy rains that have caused flooding in parts of the Mwea Rice Irrigation Scheme will affect the quality of rice being harvested this season, the Na-

tional Irrigation Board (NIB), Scheme Manager Innocent Ariemba has said.

This is because the increase of water in the paddies has raised the level of moisture content in the maturing rice and this may lead to rotting of some harvested crop.

“For the farmers to harvest quality grain, it must attain the optimum moisture content and this is becoming a challenge due to the heavy rains in the area which have created a high moist environment which is unfavorable,” Ariemba said.

He also said the paddies were getting flooded by the heavy rain waters resulting to lodging of the mature crop which is yet to be harvested.

“When the crop lodges , it means some of the grain starts to rot while others sprout leading to heavy losses during a harvesting season and this is precisely what our farmers are now experiencing due to the rains ,” he said.

The manager has however assured farmers that the Board is making frantic efforts to arrest the situation and save them from incurring heavy losses.

“The NIB has decided to hire mobile dryers which the farmers will use after harvesting their crop in order to at-tain the required storage moisture content,” Ariemba said.

He said the dryers will be strategically positioned at the mills in the area where farmers will dry their harvest before taking the grain home for storage and subsequent marketing.

Ariemba also said the Board has also embarked on an exercise to drain the flooded paddies where the crop has already lodged due to the heavy rains and strong winds to avoid heavy losses.

“I have already harvested 20 bags of paddy rice which are still lying in the open since the outlet from my shamba is heavily flooded,” said Jane Muthoni from Karaba sec-tion.

She has since appealed to the NIB to assist in providing tractors to transport their harvested crop to dry areas to avoid rotting and sprouting of the grain due to the high moisture content.

NEWS KIRINYAGA STARAPRIL - MAY 2015

0 7 9 2 3 8 2 3 4 9 2 1 0 >

MT. KENYA STAR newspaper is published monthly by MT. KENYA STAR PUBLISHERS. Office Hotline: 0707648755 Other Contacts: 0722214261 / 0722792810.Email: [email protected]

BY RICHARD MUGO

Simon Gatimu, 32, earns over Sh100,000 every month from selling deep fried dough pop-

ularly referred to as ngumus due to their crispy nature and crunch be-tween the teeth while chewing.

It is a project he started in 2002 with only Sh300. He started by buy-ing three 2kg packets of wheat floor at Sh180 as one was sold at around Sh60 then, cooking oil at Sh40 and other ingredients.

Today, he uses 15 bales of flour per day and sells his ngumus across the entire Gichugu Sub County (Kirinya-ga East). He does this from his home

bakery at Kiangurwe, located at the border between Karumandi and Baragwi.

After ten years of hard work and savings, he purchased a motorbike in 2011which was way much effi-cient than a bicycle he had been using.

But last year, he bought a Pro-box vehicle. This is a better mode of transport as it easily navigates through the rough roads and can carry more supplies in one trip.

The self taught pastry chef said that his savings were boosted by a tender to supply local secondary schools with the highly desired commodity especially by students

who require the ngumus during tea breaks.

“I have supplied to Karumandi High School for four consecutive years and around one to Thumaita East Secondary School although the tender ended after the schools opted for breads instead of the snacks,” he said adding that he is currently sup-plying to Kiamutugu Boys’ Second-ary School.

Up to now, he has employed four young men to assist him in the pro-duction of the commodity which the employees do during the day when he is distributing ngumus in the market.

“They are mostly university stu-

dents during their long holidays longing for something constructive to do as well as earn an extra coin. Those who are not in school show no interest in the job because they claim it is too demanding since one is required to wake up at the crack of dawn and retire to bed late at night. It is sacrifice,” he said.

He has however had his share of challenges. In 2011, he went to Nairobi to purchase a vehicle to re-place the bicycle in the ferrying of the commodity and ended up being swindled Sh500,000 by imposters car dealers at a Nairobi motor deal-ers.

This led to further spending of about Sh300,000 following months of travelling to attend a court hear-ing at a Nairobi court after the arrest of the culprits.

“This was a very heart wrenching moment. I felt like I had lost every-thing that I had worked so hard for, the money and the confidence,” he says.

Gatimu returned home after the saga empty handed with a guilty heart but hopeful that he would pur-chase a vehicle one day.

In addition, the roads within the region are impassable during the rainy season making it difficult to access the most interior parts of the constituency.

“Roads leading to the interior of the constituency get very messy especially during the two rainy sea-sons,” he says.

Competition is also higher than in previous years. “A lot of people have realized what a good opportunity the business is and that is why they have flooded in the market,” he said adding that he used to make about Sh5,000 in Kianyaga Town but the demand and the proceeds have dropped in the recent past.

“Competition makes you stron-ger. You have to work harder to beat your competitors and that is the na-ture of business,” he said.

How I bought my first car from ngumus

Simon Gatimu drives home in a car he desired to buy for a long time. he bought the Probox make vehicle from the savings of the proceeds he made after selling deep fried dough for over ten years.

Rice farmers face losses over rains

The NIB has decided to hire mobile dryers which the farmers will use after harvesting their crop in or-der to attain the required storage moisture content.

- Ariemba

BY RICHARD MUGO

Goodway Sacco has started a boda boda loan scheme for the youth, so far assisting 24

youths acquire boda bodas to enable then start an income generating ac-tivity.

Each of the two dozen youths has benefitted from a soft loan worth Sh100,000. The youths targeted are those who have been employees of other boda boda owners.

The repayment for the loan is Ksh200 per day. The Sacco Chair-man John Kabui said more loans

will be disbursed to other youths in the area.

Beneficiaries must be in a group of at least three boda boda operators or potential buyers as a form of sell regulation and peer-to-peer guaran-tee in the repayment of the loan.

“The loans come alongside hel-mets, ridding suites and a compre-hensive insurance cover during and after repayment period to ensure in the event of an eventuality the affected youth will remain in busi-ness,” Mwai said.

Speaking outside the Sacco prem-ises when he handed over three

more boda bodas to three beneficia-ries , the chairman said so far, only one defaulter has been identified.

He also said a single accident involving a boda boda under the program has also occurred with the victim compensated with a new one and is now back to business. This is because the package includes a com-prehensive insurance cover.

Mwai said the Sacco hopes to grant more loans next year to en-able as many youths as possible become owners of the boda bodas to improve their economic wellbeing .

Goodway Sacco expands loan program

200The daily repayment of the Ksh 100,000 loans advanced to youths by Goodway Sacco.

For the Good oF KIrInyaGa PeoPle


Nyeri MCAs may have to think twice before trying to impeach Governor Nderitu Gachagua

again after he pulled a political master-stroke that has now seen his allies con-trol house business at the Nyeri County Assembly.

It was the hunter becoming the hunted after some MCAs spent Sh10 million in Mombasa plotting how to impeach the governor.

But the most unfortunate bit of the impeachment was that the grounds pre-

sented by some MCAs were actually positive projects that the governor had

implemented to help the elderly have free access to National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) services and also issuance of free seeds ahead of the rains. But MCAs said they had not been consulted by the governor and therefore had to im-peach him.

The MCA also wanted the governor to sign the Ward Development Fund Bill into law, allowing the MCAs to control part of development funds, something which is not allowed under the current national constitution. The constitution restricts the role of the MCAs to oversight of how the government is using its rev-enue.

Governor Gachagua appears to have

combined political diplomacy and hard-ball politics to scuttle the impeachment plans. But he did not stop there. He went ahead and instigated coups at the assem-bly that have seen his supporters control crucial house positions.

Josephat Ituruka, 53, who has 300 coffee bushes earned Sh468,000 from his coffee in the last payout.

STORY ON PAGE 02

CONT. ON PAGE2 >>

ECONOMY

STORY ON PAGE 02

Why Othaya farmers are earning millions from coffee

Some coffee farmers in Othaya who are members of the Gatugi Coffee Factory have increase their coffee production and earnings by almost three times following the introduction of Farmers Field Schools (FFS).

NYERI | DECEMBER, 2015 ISSUE 016 www.mtkenyastar.com PRICE: KSh30

For the Good oF nyerI PeoPle

Gachagua stages a political masterstroke on MCAs

It was the hunter becoming the hunted after some MCAs spent Sh10 million in Mombasa plotting how to impeach the governor.

PUBLISHERS

IN OTHER PAGES

the mention of kangubiri rekindles bitter memories for former detainees Who underWent untold suffering at the institution, then a detention camp, during the struggle for independence.

How Kangubiri High School grew from a detention centre to a centre of excellence

STORY ON PAGE 10 >>

Governor Nderitu Gachagua.

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

Some coffee farmers in Othaya who are members of the Gatugi Coffee Factory have increase their coffee

production and earnings by almost three times following the introduction of Farm-ers Field Schools (FFS).

“These fields schools in Othaya have been a success, farmers have not only in-creased the amount of coffee but have also increased the quality and earnings from coffee,” said Ephantus Mwangi, the Nyeri County Director of Agriculture.

One farmer, Josephat Ituruka, 53, who has 300 coffee bushes earned Sh468,000 from his coffee in the last payout.

Ituruka who joined the FFS in 2013. His production increased to 22 kilos per tree in 2014/15 as opposed to a harvest of 9 ki-los per tree in 2013/14 and 8 kilos per tree in2012/13.

“My production has steadily improved to a total harvest of 6,500 kilos in 2014/15 from that of 2700 kilos in 2013/14 and 2500 in 2012/13. After the sale of the 2014/15 harvest, I pocketed over Sh468,000 from coffee proceeds, an amount I have never earned from coffee,” stated Mr. Ituruka who claims that he is projecting to harvest

over 5000 kilos this season.A pilot programme started in 2013 ini-

tially involved farmers from Gatugi Coffee Factory in Karima location before spread-ing to other areas in the sub-county.

A farmer Benson Kariuki Ndegwa, pop-ularly known as Baba, told MT. KENYA STAR the programme was started by Min-istry of Agriculture officials to improve production following poor coffee harvests recorded in the previous years.

Kariuki is one of the beneficiaries of the programme and a member of Gatugi cof-fee factory.

Led by the then Othaya District Agri-cultural officer Mr. Ephantus Mwangi , now the Nyeri County Director of Agricul-ture, and the area Crop Officer Lucy Njeri among other officials, the officers oversaw the formation of the first FFS group at Gatugi which later split into two following the explosion in number of participants.

During the 2014/15 harvest, the factory saw grades of its coffee improve, produc-ing over 80 percent of premium coffee.

“We saw our grades improve where we produced 70 per cent of grades AA, AB and 8 per cent of grade PB all adding up to over 80 per cent,” the Gatugi coffee facto-

ry manager Duncan Ndegwa told farmers who had attended an FFS class.

This was the first time in history that Othaya sold the premium grades AA, AB and PB.

Gatugi factory alone received a gross payment of over Sh30 million. Sh26 mil-lion trickled down to farmers after deduc-tions were made where 50 per cent of the money went to farmers engaged in the FFS pilot project.

The programme saw the number of groups grow to five consisting of 150 farm-ers drawn from the factory that has a total 600 farmers.

“Since the introduction of the pro-gramme, Gatugi has recorded an increase in production of coffee from 211, 153 in 2012/13, when it was in second position out of 19 factories in the sub county, to 435, 797 kilos in 2013/14, when the factory came first,” said the manager.

The factory has maintained the first position beating factories that have high number of farmers of up to 2000.

Gatugi Coffee Factory is under the gi-ant Othaya Farmers Cooperative Society that consists of 19 factories. During the 2014/15 production, Gatugi had 392,824

kilos recording only a slight drop. Though the 2014/15 was not a good year for coffee where all the other societies achieved only 40 per cent of the previous year’s harvest, Othaya achieved 90 per cent harvest a suc-cess that was attributed to the embracing of the programme by the management of Othaya Farmers Co-operative Society.

“We are glad that Othaya Farmers Coop-erative Society was happy with the concept and borrowed the model hiring a consul-tant where 100 groups were formed in the entire constituency, a move that has seen production improve,” Lucy told FFS mem-bers at Gatugi.

Othaya farmers used lead farmers to train the rest with a backing from crop de-velopment officers.

There was also the trickling down effect of the knowledge gained where farmers who benefited from the training taught their colleagues. The training mostly on coffee nutrition regime is based on Coffee Research Foundation (CRF).

“The best thing with this programme is that lessons are practical followed by fol-low-ups by Agricultural officials. The prob-lem with other trainings offered to farmers was that farmers were taught everything in one day which ended up confusing them,” explained Lucy who also added that in FFS, the officials teach on one specific crop so as to get a specific objective.

Gatugi was also the highest in produc-tion of coffee per tree with farmers har-vesting 22 kilos per tree. But according to the manager, they are now targeting to increase production per tree from the current 20 kilos to 30 kilos per tree and increase the number of kilos delivered to Gatugi Coffee Factory from 35 million to 100 million in a couple of years.

David Macharia, 44, with 350 bushes who started attending FFS classes in 2006 has constantly been realizing high yields of 4,700 kilos in 2014/15, 6700 in 2013/14 and 5000 kilos in 2012/13.

Benson Kariuki who has 1000 bushes harvested 6,700 kilos last year unlike the previous years when he used to harvest be-tween 2,000 and 3,000 kilos from his farm. He is targeting to harvest over 10,000 kilos this season.

Before the introduction of the FFS, many farmers in Othaya used to produce an average of about one kilo of coffee per tree. But according to experts, a well tended coffee bush is capable of produc-ing over 40 kilos.

2 DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STARNEWS

david Macharia, an FFS student, who says he has realized an increase in production since he joined the programme in 2013.

Why Othaya farmers are earning millions from coffee

Agricultural officer, Lucy Njeri, talks to famers in one of the sessions on coffee farming.

It is sad that many people are today bogged down by the ravaging pain of Arthritis or symptoms associated with it yet there is a permanent remedy to this condition.

Such individuals cannot engage in any gainful economic activity because they are consumed by the severe pains.

Arthritis, which is not a single disease as many people assume but a broad term that covers over 100 medical conditions has been known to affect elderly people the most but with changes in life style, we encounter younger and younger patients with this condition more often than not.

From our 19 years experience giving permanent relief to those who fi nd themselves with the condition, at Murugu Natural & Nutritional Clinic wecan competently shed light on what we know about Arthritis and how we overcome it.

* The leading cause of arthritis is malfunction in calcium metabolism which is caused by hindrance in nutrients absorption in the small intestines. This is caused by among others, calcium-defi cient diets, poor calcium assimilation due to indigestion. Ulcers and Amoeba are the leading causes of indigestion and keeping the body free from them goes a long way in locking Arthritis outside the door.

* Infection. Any factor that hampers Calcium Metabolism which is responsible for healthy bones and joints earn the individual Arthritis. Eventually when uric-acid-crystals get deposited in joint tissues, they cause recurring attacks of joint infl ammation which explains the strong pains. Other notable infections such as syphilis are some of the known predisposing factors to the condition.

* Hormonal imbalance aggravated by advancing age in post menopause stages of life is another cause. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is for instance more common in women than men and according to the Arthritis Foundation in the Unites States, 70 per cent of people with RA are women.

It is worth noting that irrespective of age, taking calcium defi cient diets

A call for an Arthritis free world in four months

Dkt Murugu, the founder of Murugu Natural & Nutritional Clinic.

for a considerable period of time makes us good candidates for Arthritis.

Even after curing our patients, we put them on a 4 year observation program just to ensure there is no relapse and gladly, none of our patients have come back to say they were duped, something that gives us more confi dence and gusto with which to slay the dragon of Arthritis.

TreatmentMost of the conventional medicines administered on people with arthritis are largely pain management which means the patient has to contend with the condition for life. But this comes with obvious dangers are life time usage means damage to vital organs like the Kidney and Liver which become clogged up.

At Murugu Natural & Nutritional Clinic we cure arthritis by addressing the root causes. Depending on results of the diagnosis and in case where hormonal imbalance is the cause, we correct the imbalance in six days and in cases where defect in calcium metabolism is the cause, we test for ulcers and amoeba. We then treat the diseases. We cast our net wide and do tests for other infections known to cause the condition.

Experience has demonstrated to us that by addressing all the causes, Ar-thritis becomes curable and this is contrary to what most of us has grown up knowing that the condition can only be managed and not cured.

At Murugu Natural & Nutritional Clinic, we have heavily invested in un-matched herbal medicines which are a product of collaborative research between us and some leading scholars in Kenyan universities.

Finally, we trigger healing process through administering a mixture of herbal medicines. Our aim is to boost the body to treat itself through proper nutrients derived from right diets and this we do in four months using herbal medicines that have no side effects.

We discourage Arthritis patients from opting for surgery as fi rst link treat-ment because recovery chances are very slim compared to what we offer.

[email protected]

Rieti House (New Coop Bank Building) 3rd Floor room 32 along Uganda Road next to Kogo Plaza Eldoret branch opens every Wednesday

OPEN DAILY

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

Farmers Field School (FFS) is a con-cept started in Java, South-East Asia that enable adult coffee farmers to

learn by doing. The agricultural method-ology uses an ordinary school concept and typically has a class of 25 to 35 students taught by a facilitator.

In Asia, the concept was used by the Unit-ed Nations (UN), Food and Agriculture Or-ganisation (FAO) to assist farmers growing paddy rice address the problem of pests which was a nuisance. The first FFS were designed and managed by FAO.

It was first introduced in Western Kenya in 1996 and has also been used in Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia among other African countries. The specific goal of FFS is to empower farmers with knowledge and skills to make them experts in their field.

Classes start at a certain time of growing period to harvesting with a facilitator guid-ing the students, who are the farmers, all through. For instance in coffee, classes start during the flowering of the crop through to harvesting.

As part of the methodology, farmers usu-ally meet in a farm with that particular crop where proven agricultural practices are taught. A coffee FFS class lasts for nine months and farmers have to attend eight to nine training sessions so as to graduate.

That means the classes must follow a sea-sonal growing period of the coffee crop after which farmers graduate and are awarded certificates. A pre and post-test is conducted as part of every Field School for diagnostic purposes and for determining follow-up ac-tivities.

A curriculum is developed with certain topics which are followed systematical-ly with one specific topic taught at a time during the specific growth stage of the crop.

For instance in coffee, farmers are taught how to prune their crop in January. How-ever, an FFS can include special additional field studies depending on local field prob-lems.

Usually, a class takes two hours to ensure that students do not get bored thus skip-ping classes. Roll calls are called to ensure all members are present in class. Farmers have to implement exactly what they are taught in the open classes with facilitators doing follow-ups to ensure they do so.

The first lesson is always based on eco-nomics where farmers are taught how to determine whether growing of the crop in question has any economic value to them. Other than the first class, subsequent class-es start with a recap of what was taught in the previous class to ensure they remember what was learnt.

After mastering the entire technique, farmers are allowed to make an impact by teaching fellow farmers on the same. FFSs have helped participants increase their yield and production and protect their crops from pests and diseases.

What is a Farmers Field

School?

OThAYA FARMERS

diplomacy and hardball

Gachagua first called all the MCAs for a closed meeting in Nanyuki. De-tails of that meeting were not avail-able but some of those in the meet-ing say the governor emphasized the need for the MCAs to work closely with the government to facilitate de-velopment for Nyeri residents.

After that meeting, the MCAs pledged to support the governor for the sake of development.

But after the Nanyuki meeting, some MCAs continued plotting for the governor’s ouster. The impeach-ment was allegedly being pushed on Speaker David Mugo, his deputy, Joel Gichuru and the then Leader of the Majority Jesse Kamuri.

The three did miss the Mashujaa Day celebrations in Nyeri where Kabaru MCA Duncan Gituanja launched an attack at the three for undermining the governor. MCA Gituanja has since been elected the new Leader of the Majority follow-ing the ouster of MCA Kamuri.

Later, the MCAs allied to the gov-ernor tightened their control of the assembly after voting out The Lead-er of the Minority Ruguru Ward MCA Fredrick Karere of GNU, re-placing him with Konyu Ward MCA Arthur Wachira also of GNU, just a week after voting out the Leader of the Majority.

This means the governor’s allies now control business in the assem-bly, which had attempted to im-peach Mr Gachagua one month ago.

What others said

Kiganjo MCA Baragu Mutahi told MT. KENYA STAR that there is no evidence Governor Gachagua used money to achieve these political gains but claimed blind loyalty and use of dangling carrot trick by the executive could have been behind the change of heart by MCAs.

According to Baragu, the im-peachment motion was supposed to be moved by the Naromoru Kiama-

thaga MCA, Ringera Marete, who later changed his mind and dropped the move without giving any expla-nations to the house.

“Marete was a member of the committee formed to spearhead investigations into how the county government accumulated pending bills amounting to over Sh635 mil-lion but he later failed to attend the meetings,” said MCA Baragu.

Though it was believed that there was Governor Gachagua’s hand in the changing of the assembly lead-ership, Gachagua denied the claims saying he was not a member of The National Alliance (TNA) party but a member of GNU and had no busi-

ness meddling with the affairs of TNA.

“The change of the house leader-ship was all about politics and Gach-agua is a politician and could have influenced the same through other people,” maintained MCA Baragu.

Unconfirmed reports have it that the pro-Governor Gachagua MCAs may now attempt to impeach the Speaker David Mugo. Gachagua had earlier accused the speaker of not being neutral in debates claiming he was inciting MCAs to remove him from office.

“I have also heard rumours that the speaker may be targeted but we are waiting to see the same started. It will be not easy as the threshold to have the speaker removed is high,” said MCA Baragu.

He said other than influencing the leadership of the house, the ex-ecutive also targets to weaken over-sight committees thus weakening the oversight role of the house.

“I wish the new leadership will strengthen the oversight role and bring members of the party together so that they can deliver. The bottom line is to deliver services to the peo-ple. I can assure you that the fight is on between the corrupt and those supporting delivery of services. We have no personal fight against the executive, it is a matter of positive criticism. Governments are usually slow and it is usually through prod-ding that things are done faster,” he said.

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

Wakulima dairy coop-erative society has pro-cured a milk processing

plant that is set to commence op-eration soon.

However, Nyeri County ex-ecutive committee member for Agriculture and Livestock Devel-opment, Robert Thuo, has urged farmers to improve milk produc-tion saying though the machine has a capacity to process 100,000 litres, farmers are only able to produce 34,000 litres.

He said the dairy was doing well and was coming up with some of the best milk that has very high demand in Nairobi and other markets.

“They have already imported very good equipment for yoghurt processing and the machine is al-ready in Kenya. But production is at 34,000 litres while the capacity of the plant is 100,000 litres so the challenge is for the farmers to take advantage of this and get good prices,” he noted.

Thuo was speaking during Nyeri County Agribusiness Trade Fair organized by Kenya Live-stock Producers Association held at Karatina Stadium recently.

He expressed optimism that there will be an upsurge in fod-der and subsequently milk pro-duction due to the ongoing rains and advised farmers to prepare to store fodder in form of hay and silage for use during the dry spell.

He said since farmers may not

be able to dispose all the milk in one day, they need to think of adding value to the produce through cold storage so they can keep the milk for long and add value by making yoghurt.

“Am happy that small cottage industries are coming up and farmers are organizing them-selves in small groups. Am aware that we have Slopes cooperative which is in Karatina and has invested in a yoghurt making

plant,” he intoned.He said the county government

was encouraging farmers to par-ticipate in the entire value chain and add value to their produce.

“Farmers have just been used to producing of raw materials but we want them to go to the next level and add value to the prod-ucts they have so that they can increase their income,” said the county minister.

NEWS3

DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR

<< CONT. FROM PG 1

Wakulima acquires yoghurt machines Kenya aims to double coffee

output by 2020 after long decline

Wakulima dairy cooperative society has procured a milk processing plant that is set to commence operation soon.

nyeri County executive Committee Member for agriculture and livestock development, robert thuo visits stalls during the nyeri County agribusiness trade Fair held at Karatina Stadium recently.

Gachagua stages a political masterstroke on MCAs

nyeri MCas during an informal meeting with the nyeri Governor nderitu Gachagua.

MIlK PROCESSING PlANT

BY DUNCAN MIRIRI / REUTERS

NYERI, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenya aims to double its annual coffee production by 2020 to 92,000 tonnes by increasing the area under cultivation and raising

yields, helping bolster revenue from a major foreign exchange earner.

Kenya, which relies heavily on coffee export earnings, is a small producer that accounts for just 1 percent of the global crop but is renown for its high quality arabica beans that are sought after for blending with other varieties.

Since production peaked at 129,000 tonnes in 1988/89 it has dropped steadily due to poor management and global price swings that prompted farmers to switch crops or even sell land. Output was just 41,000 tonnes in the year to Sep-tember.

To boost production, farmers will receive training and be encouraged to plant higher-yielding plants, said Alfred Buso-lo, acting head of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Author-ity, which regulates the industry.

Authorities also aim to open new farming areas in the Rift Valley and western Kenya, by training farmers, offering seed-lings and funding at low interest rates of 2.5-5 percent per year, he told Reuters. Commercial rates normally available to farmers are usually in double digits.

Production is now focused in Kenya’s central highlands.

“The objective is to increase from the current estimated 110,000 hectares to 130,000 hectares by 2020,” he said. “Pros-pects for the Kenyan coffee industry are now looking up.”

Analysts say such plans have been put forward in the past only to stumble due to a range of issues, including poor mar-keting and a failure to help farmers cope with global price swings.

“Kenya is facing formidable constraints in boosting its cof-fee output,” said Victoria Crandall, a soft commodities analyst at Ecobank in London, citing low earnings for farmers, low yields per tree and an inefficient marketing system.

Much of the work to boost output is happening at the lo-cal level. The local government in Nyeri, a major producing region, wants to secure higher prices for the area’s 99,000 farmers, although factories and marketing agents have resist-ed efforts.

Robert Thuo, who is in charge of Nyeri County’s agricul-ture department, said a proposal before the county assembly aimed to boost productivity, including by providing cheaper financing.

He said, with help and the right farming practices, farmers could increase yields to 10 kg per tree from 1.5 kg.

Some farmers want the 25 cooperative societies in Nyeri to merge and improve their bargaining power for higher pric-es. Cooperatives broke into smaller units in the 1990s, which some blame for the slide in output.

“If people pool coffee we can even get 100 shillings per kg,” said Wilson Nderitu, a 78-year old farmer, noting he currently receives 25 shillings per kg.


From a distance, a canopy of coffee plantation can be seen as you approach his vast farm,

in my head, I start to imagine the millions he rakes in regardless of the never ending coffee woes that have threatened to dwindle this precious cash crop.

On arrival, a closer look gives a dis-heartening picture; some of the plan-tation has not blossomed while some look perfectly healthy with shiny green leaves. You will be forgiven to think there are two owners.

Uche Kaigwa, a Kenya citizen of mixed background who hails from Mukurue-ini in Nyeri County, is a devastated but passionate owner of a 24 acre plantation.

His devastation stems from the never ending coffee politics that he thinks will one day wipe out all cof-fee trees in Kenya. In deed large scale coffee farmers like the late Hon John Michuki wiped his over 800 acre cof-fee field to invest in real estate.

However, driven by her passion for nature and farming, he is not going to throw in the towel. The 35 year old has decided to do commercial coffee farming organically, not only to promote a safe working environ-ment for workers, but also cut down on the exorbitant prices associated with chemical inputs. “If things are not put in place, the Kenya coffee industry will eventually become un-sustainable,” he says.

“Using natural derivatives, you can make fertilizer from organic materi-al, just the same way people make herbal medicines in the medical fra-ternity,” he says.

He says it is simple organic chem-istry, where he uses beneficial herbs like terere and weeds like black jack, different composed livestock manure, worm juice and wood dust from burnt coffee branches.

Eager to cut costs and reduce the levels of toxic chemicals in his coffee, the farmer uses charcoal dust from the coffee branches for proliferation of beneficial micro organisms in the soil.

“Charcoal dust contains phospho-rus and potassium making it a good source of organic fertilizer and by composting it, you will also be add-ing iron, manganese, boron, copper and zinc in your soil,” says Mr Kaig-wa.

Using different decomposed live-stock manure, he adds the wood dust and water in different ratios then allows the mixture to ferment for a few days. Thereafter, he adds to the mixture some beneficial herbs like black-jack among others. “The end product is an efficient organic fertil-izer at minimal costs,” he says.

“During the composting process, the available nutrients will be trans-ferred and tied up in the bodies of your compost microbes. Once your compost is applied to the soil, these nutrients will gradually make their way into the coffee via microbe ex-change,” he explains.

According to Uche, wood ash is a great addition to the livestock ma-nure because of its porosity which helps to adsorb nutrients and pre-vent them from leeching out. In addition, he says wood ash helps in-crease the pH levels.

“Wood ashes are 25% calcium car-bonate, which makes them quite al-kaline and if your soils are quite acid-ic, the addition of wood ash whether directly or through my formulated organic fertilizer is very beneficial. However, if your soils are already al-kaline using wood ash can be harm-

ful,” explains the 35 year old.According to him, weeds like black

jack are beneficial to the immune system of a plant. “Ask yourself why black jack is almost everywhere and it lasts long by out-living most of the plants around it,” he poses.

He also does vermiculture and uses worm juice on his newly plant-ed trees, which is rich in good nitro-gen fixing bacteria.

Essentially, he adds beneficial components that will increase the decomposition of nitrogen to make it available faster. However, his organic formula has to be used on a newly planted coffee field. He tried using it on the already existing chemically grown plantation which he inherited but it did not work.

He says the secret is to create a high metabolism in the plant as op-posed to try and feed the plant more; a process he says is enhanced by the wood dust.

“On part of the coffee I inherited,

I tried applying my organic fertiliz-er and the result was disheartening. They are not performing well be-cause am adding fortified compost with liquid manure solutions to a tree that did not have it, they have grown tall but not thick because they did not have enough phosphorous to build the tissues. As a result, if I keep adding my solution the branches end up braking,” he explains.

For this reason, he has slowly started replacing the trees with fully organically grown coffee, something he says has shown great results from the few trees he has planted

“Since I started using the ash solu-tion, I have witnessed significant changes like high water retention and there is a rich lushness on the leaves, they look bright. Once I irri-gate the field, it takes a significant number of days before the next irri-gation,” he says.

“Cancer cases are rampant yet we are blind to the fact that use of haz-ardous chemicals is one of the major causes of such ailments. Not less than 300 people have been working on my farm, I will be heartless to sit by the side and watch their days on earth significantly cut down as they make millions for me,” says Uche.

He says he wants to transform the commercial farming he inherited to make it commercial organic farming. He has now stopped harvesting his coffee with the hope of replacing the existing trees with organically grown trees.

Ash from any hard wood tree and not necessarily coffee can be used. As he embarks on growing coffee organically, he has started practising horticulture on some piece of land, where he grows kales and tomatoes to diversify.

“When I went to college to study coffee farming, I was told you cannot practice commercial coffee farming organically. Something which I con-sider a falsehood because countries like Brazil, Panama, Costa rica, Co-lombia, Bolivia among others are all practicing commercial organic farm-ing and are getting more per dollar per kilo of coffee than us, why not try it out?” he quips.

According to him, by not using the chemical fertilizers, he will be saving up to 15 times what his folks spent.

“Chemical fertilizers may not last long and may require many applica-tions, however with organic fertilizer, the number is significantly lowered to two to three times in a year,” he says.

Apart from cutting down input costs, he says organically grown cof-fee is not subjected to commercial fertilizer; hence its beans will be free of chemical residues. For this reason, organic coffee has a full rich flavour.

POLITICS4


DEVOLUTION



BY WACHIRA CARITAS

Old adage advises “knowledge is power” and “little knowledge is dangerous”. In the light of this wis-

dom, the path of change and sustainable prosperity is arguably anchored on knowl-edge capital and the extent to which that capital is shared to expand opportunities. To successfully achieve the objects and purpose of devolution, county government need to exhaustively address devolution requisites of information communication, public participation, efficient and effective service delivery, equitable and accountable management of resources. My opinion is the success or failure of county govern-ments will be determined and measured against these critical parameters. There is already a concern in the public domain over management and use of the available resources and efficiency of service delivery. It is therefore imperative that the pioneer county governments invest in laying a strong foundation to attain crucial consti-tutional reform intentions.

In a past opinion, I explored political, fis-cal and administrative challenges the first county governments are wrestling with. I pointed out the underlying rationale for Kenya’s power decentralization as bringing decision making close to the people, equi-table resource sharing and efficient and effective public service delivery. My take is these are the three key pillars and a com-mon denominator of all forms of decentral-ized systems of government. In this opin-ion I explore the elements of information communication and public participation in decision making.

Our constitution is perhaps one of the most revolutionary on matters pertaining to protection of human rights. Every Ken-yan has a right to access to information and to be involved in the decision making pro-cess. The right to access to information and participation in decision making is perhaps the most significant departure from the centralized regimes, where information and decision making were highly confiden-tial targeting a select few. Civil servants will recall the days of wrapping public informa-tion in a series of blown envelops with seals by the provincial administration in ceremo-nious rubrics of secrecy.

The constitution has provided all sover-eign power in Kenya belongs to the peo-ple, and can be exercised either directly or through elected representatives. This is a fundamental provision implying gov-ernance belongs to the people and only through them can it be authentic. In the bill of rights, it provides explicitly the right

to access to information held by the state or another person for the exercise or pro-tection of a right or fundamental freedoms. The right to freedom of expression under-scores the vitality of seeking, receiving or imparting information or ideas.

The object and purpose of public infor-mation in the constitution and county gov-ernment act is to empower the citizenly to participate in the decision making process. Provision of government information cre-ates a vital empowering link between gov-ernment and citizens and a forum for an issue based dialogue. In this way an under-standing and consensus is built on matters affecting the public. Information commu-nication is therefore a critical component of public participation on governance and sustainable development. In the light of this, it is imperative that pioneer county governments establish mechanisms to fa-cilitate effective and efficient public com-munication. Counties that will invest on public communication will most certainly enjoy the good will of their citizens and will reap big results in both governance and development management. This path demands development of a robust public communication strategy followed by a leg-islation to enact it.

The value of public information com-munication is in transformative political, social and economic effect and impact. An authentic public communication must be anchored on the principle of common good and must be devoid of manipulation. It is imperative that counties invest in commu-nicating on motions, bills and questions due, on-going and concluded in the assem-bly. The same should apply to development projects planning and implementation in the wards and most significantly finance management. These are vital information that should be packaged in a language that the citizens can understand to generate lob-bying and advocacy for change or amend-ments. In the past the public has been in-formed through commercial media, which quite often the government has accused of misrepresenting and distorting facts. Simi-larly governments when providing vital in-formation such as advertizing for jobs and tenders have used commercial media that rarely adequately reach their constituents. Expanding opportunities demands use of innovative and appropriate media suitable to the local context.

(Wachira Caritas is is a part time lecturer in Development Studies and GovernanceAt Dedan Kimathi University of Technolo-gy)

Why public information, communication and

participation matters in devolution

Growing organic coffee is less expensive

Coffee seedlings ready for transplanting.

Charcoal dust contains phosphorus and potassium making it a good source of organic fertilizer and by composting it, you will also be adding iron, manganese, boron, copper and zinc in your soil.

NEWS

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

Karatina University has acquired modern equipment to enhance its capacity for teaching science

courses.The Chairman of the University Gov-

erning Council Professor Charles Odidi Okidi said the equipment include Fou-rier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) equip-ment which will help in advanced re-search. The equipment was acquired in the last financial year.

Professor Odidi was speaking during the institution’s third graduation cere-mony held at the university’s main cam-pus at Karatina, Nyeri County, recently. “This financial year, there are plans to acquire and install an Absorption Spec-trophotometer (AAS) at a cost of Sh8 million. These equipments will go a long way in ensuring that our students are equipped with relevant skills therefore increasing their marketability,” said the chairman.

He said he was upbeat that the imple-

mentation of the Enterprise Resource Planning software (ERP) was at an ad-vanced stage. This, he added, has made it easier to manage University records while reducing the demands for addi-tional staff and urged the University Management to address the few remain-ing areas of the ERP to ensure full func-tionality.

The chairman noted that the universi-ty was collaborating with Kenya Educa-tion Network (KENET) to enhance inter-net connectivity, a move that has seen a

high mast meant to host more powerful radios installed.

“This has enabled faster internet access thereby enabling students to access more online materials. The University Council will continue providing sufficient learn-ing materials for both students and lec-turers to ensure quality graduates. May I also report that additional computers have been acquired and an additional computer laboratory equipped at the Main Campus,” he intoned.

Other developments include the com-pletion of the construction of a hostel and a tuition block at a total cost of Sh130 million.

“The construction of the 920-bed ca-pacity hostel and the resource centre are at an advanced stage as you can see. It is expected that once complete, the Uni-versity will be in a position to offer im-proved quality education while increas-ing the number of students it admits,” he stated.

Nyeri Deputy Governor Samuel Wamathai who represented the gover-nor during the event said there is need

for the government and the university to jointly venture into the development of a pilot tea value addition project and tea processing cottage industries.

This, he said, will show case the way forward for the tea industry adding that the County Government ‘will render all possible support and cooperation in the realization of this noble initiative’.

He hailed the University for its role in the development of tea value addition and product diversification proposal.

“We shall continue to work closely with the two universities in human capacity development, strengthening public de-velopment engagements, show casing community based research projects and in leveraging public, private business partnerships,” said the deputy governor.

He was referring to both Karatina Uni-versity and Dedan Kimathi University of Technology.

He said Karatina University has in the past collaborated with the County Gov-ernment of Nyeri in conducting studies together particularly in the development of agri-business in the County.

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

Karatina University has launched a new strategic plan covering the period of

2015-2020.The university also celebrated the

award of ISO 9000:2008 certifica-tion and the launch of the Customer Service Delivery Charter.

The new strategic plan was launched during the third gradua-tion ceremony held at the universi-ty’s main campus grounds at Kago-chi in DECEMBER.

The institution’s Vice Chancellor

Professor Mucai Muchiri said the university was operating under the first Strategic Plan for the period 2012-2017 that led to the award of Charter in March 2013.

But due to the change of status of the University, it became neces-sary to align the plan with the new fundamentals, he noted. “What followed was a rigorous series of activities with wide consultation and involvement of stakeholders that led to the publishing of the Strategic Plan launched today (20th of DECEMBER). During the plan period, the University intends

to grow student population in man-ageable proportions to ensure ser-vice delivery remains to be of high quality,” he stated.

He announced that the growth of academic programmes will be regulated to ensure that only pro-grammes for which the University enjoys competitive advantage are launched.

“These achievements mark the beginning of our renewed resolve and commitment to high standards of service delivery. We assure our stakeholders, especially potential employers of our graduates quality human resource and service,” said the vice chancellor. A total of 1009 graduates were awarded degrees and diplomas during the gradua-tion event.

Karatina University’s journey to ISO certification started in Febru-

ary 2013 after undergoing through relevant stages. The ISO 9001 Qual-ity Management Systems’ docu-mentation was launched in August the same year and this marked the formal commencement of the im-plementation phase, Prof. Muchiri explained.

“The system has been imple-mented and following internal and external audit, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) declared the University ISO 9001:2008 compli-ant on June 30th, 2015. The award of the ISO 9001:2008 Certificate by the Kenya Bureau of Standards is a clear demonstration of the fact that the University has now put in place systems, processes and procedures for the efficient delivery of service to our clients,” he noted.

The university, he said, intends to begin the School of Health Scienc-

es, Centre for Mountain Studies and Climatic Change as well as the Tea Institute. These new schools and in-stitutes, he said, are as a response to the demand for training in the field of health, natural resources and tea.

He said the University has started working with County Governments in addressing challenges that affect them as well as the general public.

“The Strategic Plan launched to-day gives special mention to areas of collaboration between the Univer-sity and these levels of governance. This will provide both a market for the skills produced by the Universi-ty thereby providing employment to our graduates,” he went on.

Karatina University trained 700 primary school teachers from Mathira schools in ICT skill sup-ported by the Constituency De-velopment Fund (CDF) in a bid to supplement National government efforts aimed at achieving the prom-ised laptop project.

“Let me also report that the Uni-versity is currently engaged with the Laikipia County Government. During the last academic year, a Training Needs Assessment (TNA) was carried out and is implement-ing the recommendations in this year and for the future years,” he said.

NEWS5


Karatina University acquires modern science teaching equipment

Karatina University graduants.

Prof Muchai, Vice Chancellor. Prof Charles Odidi, Chancellor.

Karatina University launches new strategic plan

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The County Ministry of Agri-culture has recorded positive developments in the past

years, enabling farmers to raise production of coffee, tea, maize and providing training for thou-sands in order to improve farming methods.

Most recently, the ministry took a decision to improve food availabili-ty when the county government distributed free seeds to farmers to take advantage of the El Nino rains.

The seeds included; 36.22tons of maize, 14 tons of beans and 7.2 tons of wheat all worth Sh10.5 million. About 25,577 vulnerable farmers in all the thirty wards benefited.

“It is projected that a produc-tion of about 43,464 bags of Maize, 4,200 bags of beans and 2,880 bags of wheat will be realized,” said Robert Mwangi Thuo, the County Executive Secretary (Minister) for Agriculture and Livestock Devel-opment.

“We now plan to install 30 green houses to all the wards that will be demonstration sites for the horti-culture farmers,” he added.

Coffee production increased from 21.3 million kilogrammes in 2012 to 42.8 million kilogrammes in 2014, an over 100% increase that catapulted the county to number

two, after Kiambu County, with farmers’ earnings increasing by a similar margin from Sh1.6 billion to Sh3.4 billion. This year, the min-ister said the county anticipates an increase of 20% due to the El Nino rains.

Green tea leaf production im-proved to 74 million kilogrammes in 2014 from 63 million kilo-grammes in 2012 with earnings marginally going up to Sh3.5 bil-lion in 2014 from Sh3.2 billion the previous year, despite a depressed international market. This year, the county expects an increase of 25% due to the El Nino rains.

The minister said Wambugu Training Centre will continue to

hold open days every Thursday and the county will continue to organise two days major stakeholder’s field day every July.

“This year a total of 25,000 farm-ers from Nyeri and other counties attended the field day. We also car-ried out Poultry Clinic in collabora-tion with Egerton University and Seeds of Gold where it attracted over 3,000 farmers,” he said.

New task force for dairy farmingThe Livestock Directorate has

established a dairy task force to en-hance efficiency and to check com-mercial viability of the dairy sector. The report will be submitted this month.

The Directorate also supported Wakulima Dairy in Mukurweini with Sh26 million to start milk val-ue addition by installing a yoghurt line. This initiative will lead to in-crease of milk price per litre.

“We as the Department we en-courage the Nyeri County farmers to take advantage of the facility and increase milk production. We also in the process of procuring milk cooling tanks to be installed in vari-ous wards to reduce the losses,” said Thuo.

He added that to boost fish pro-duction the Department is at an advanced stage to operationalize the Wamagana Fish Processing Plant in Tetu Sub County. The plant has a maximum capacity of 12 tons

per week of fish processing. He said Nyeri County farmers should take advantage of the facility and increase their fish production in order for the plant to operate at maximum level.

The Veterinary Directorate un-dertook a successful vaccination campaign in November against animal diseases like Anthrax, Ra-bies, Rift Valley Fever and Lumpy Skin disease. So far, 30,138 cattle, 8,770 goats, 7,811sheep, 2,697 dogs, 46 cats and 9 donkeys have been vaccinated.

The Directorate also plans to strengthen the breeding pro-gramme for the livestock by instal-lation of LN8 liquid nitrogen plant which will guarantee efficient pres-ervation and conservation of high quality Germplasm to farmers at affordable prices.

“The department has a total of 298 extension staff distributed in the eight sub counties and farmers should attend the training forums. We are now in the process of re-vitalizing extension services and farmers should take advantage of them and learn new technologies. Extension staff will be provided with vehicles, uniforms and exten-sion visit record book. We as the department we are also advocating drought tolerant crops like cassava, sorghum, millet etc.,” said Thuo.


Nyeri County Department of Health Services has trained 2,510 community health

volunteers and established 251 Community Health Units as part of making it easier for residents to ac-cess quality health medical services under an initiative known as Afya Mashinani.

Each Community Health Unit will be manned by 10 trained com-

munity health volunteers who have undergone training by the depart-ment.

The idea is to offer quicker access to medical help for patients with non-communicable diseases like di-abetes, hypertension and high blood pressure among others. The initia-tive will also help address issues of sanitation related diseases that course diarrhea, which can easily be controlled at the house hold level simply by observing simple hygiene practices like hand washing with

soap and water. “The main aim of training com-

munity health volunteers is to equip them with knowledge on disease prevention methods that can be transferred to the house hold mem-bers living within the community health units that they serve,” said County Executive Committee Mem-ber for Health Services Dr. Charles Githinji.

“Implementation of this plan has started and all the 251 community units have been formed and 2,510

community health volunteers re-cruited. Training has started with the first batch of 40 units trained on Introduction to Community Strat-egy and on Non-Communicable Diseases for three days at 10 sites. Every site had a class of 41 commu-nity health volunteers. The trainers composed of various health cadres depending on the subject but limit-ed to three per day,” he added.

He said the department will strengthen their capacity in line with the approved curriculum to en-able them carry out a wide range of services according to their mandate. The folunteers are deployed in vil-lages to screen for hypertension and high blood sugar at the household level and refer those found with high levels to the nearest health fa-cility for further management

Day one of the training involved topics such as; health and develop-ment, communication skills, adult learning, and an overview of com-munity strategy.

Day two topics were; an introduc-tion to non-communicable diseases touching in details on diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, mental health and alcohol and drug abuse.

Day three topics are about oral health and primary eye care. On this day, participants are taken through a demonstration on testing blood sugar levels where everyone participates to make sure all can test their community members in future. There after they are taken through demonstration on taking blood pressure. The participants do some practical exercises to ensure everyone can take BP.

At the end of the training, each participant is issued with a com-munity health volunteer badge as a sign that they are ready to practice community health at the household, mainly testing blood sugar and tak-ing blood pressure.

Afya Mashinani to help residents’ access better healthcare

Health Worker (standing in gloves) instructing the CHVS how to test for diabetes during a three day training on non communicable diseases.

CEC Health Dr. Charles Githinji.

CeC agriculture robert thuo.

Ministry of Agriculture records positive gains

H.E. AMB WAMATHAI, Deputy Governor Nyeri County

NYERI COuNTY hEAlThCARE

NEWS 7NYERI STARDECEMBER 2015

hISTORY

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

The government has agreed to subsidize em-bryo transfer and sexed

semen services in a bid to im-prove livestock breeds and boost beef and meat production in the country.

Kenya Animal Genetic Re-sources Centre (KAGRC) Chair-man, Dr. Geoffrey Kamau, said the breeding programmes are expected to start in a few months time and called on Nyeri residents to embrace them.

He said the government’s move is meant to enable small scale farmers to easily access

the services and at a low cost. The chairman was speaking to MT. KENYA STAR on the sidelines of the Nyeri County Agribusiness Trade Fair held at Karatina Stadium recently.

Embryo transfer technolo-gy will enable farmers access imported hybrid calves and have them put inside their inferior animals. The tech-nology involves the removal of an embryo from a donor female transferring it into a recipient female where the embryo completes its devel-opment.

“Embryo transfer is where you harvest a calf from a hy-brid animal (donor) and have

it put inside another animal which will just be the carri-er and so there is no genetic connection. You can even im-port those embryos such that in nine months, you get a Eu-rope or South African cow in a local animal,” explained the chairman.

Dr. Kamau said though the technology has been in exis-tence, it has been expensive for local farmers to afford but it will now be availed to them at an affordable cost.

“We are also doing it in beef animals. Some ranchers are importing the embryos from South Africa which they implant in local Boran cows

KAGRC chairman, Dr. Geoffrey Kamau hands over a wheelbarrow to one of the exhibitors during Nyeri County Agribusiness Trade Fair held at Karatina stadium.

nyeri Museum assistant Curator anthony Maina shows bricks preserved at the museum believed to have been prepared by the detainees at the Kangubiri detention Centre, now known as Kangubiri high School.

Farmers to be assisted to get better breeds of milk, beef cows

Aerial yam.

Farmers turn to aerial yam growing

enabling the local type to calve young ones of high value,” he con-tinued. He said it is possible to import many embryos in a 50-li-tre-container.

On sexed semen, the veterinary doctor said the technique will guarantee farmers of animals of their preferred sex. “The proven sexed female semen technology will save farmers, whose lands are small, the trouble of waiting for nine months only to get bulls from their calving animals,” Dr. Kamau said.

Though sexed semen exported from Europe is a bit expensive, the chairman assured farmers that through collaboration with universities, the cost will be brought down to about Sh1,000 to Sh1,500 which a local small scale farmer can afford.

Sexed semen is where semen is proven and has a 95 to 97 per cent possibility of a farmer getting female or male animal. The se-men is administered to an animal through Artificial Insemination (AI).

“This will ensure that after waiting for nine months, a farmer has 95 to 97 percent guarantee of getting a female calf,” reiterated the chairman.

He called upon farmers to em-brace the use of Artificial Insem-ination saying the era of using bulls that led to spread of diseases and inbreeding was over.

He was accompanied by The Kenya Livestock Producers As-sociation chairman Geoffrey Gikungu and deputy director of Agriculture Lucy Ikiara among other Nyeri County government officials.

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

Skyrocketing of potato prices in the market especially during dry seasons due to scarcity has prompted many a farmer in Nyeri County to look

for an alternative by growing aerial yams.The crop also known as air potato, potato yam, aerial

potato, air yam or bitter yam is turning out to be a prom-ising alternative to Irish potatoes whose production is dwindling due to insufficiency of certified planting seeds and attack by pests and diseases.

Currently, many farmers in the county are embracing aerial yam (Dioscorea bulbifera) growing as unlike pota-to farming,yams are highly productive, less labourious, water efficient and space saving.

A single yam seed is selling at Shs. 100 to 500 depend-ing on size.

Richard Gathogo from Gathagana village in Mathira Constituency, Nyeri County, is among farmers who have ventured in aerial yam farming.

Gathogo has been growing the yams since 2012 when he was first introduced to the plant by Nigerians.

He met the Nigerians at Egerton University, during a nine-day-training programme on good farming practic-es.

“I had travelled to the institution following an invita-tion by a relative who worked there. I bought one aerial yam seed from them at Kshs. 1,500 and planted it in my farm,” says Gathogo who claims many Kenyans present regarded the price as exhibitive for a single seed.

He bought the planting material at around September and by the same time the following year, he got his first harvest.

Today, he is a proud owner of over 30 aerial yam plants in his farm. He gets financial returns from the sale of the produce as well as helping him fight food in-security in his home.

The demand for yam seeds, he says, is high than the supply and the farmer sells a single planting material at Kshs. 100. He says on a good day, he can make Kshs. 1000 from the sale of the aerial potato seeds.

If he decides to sell all the harvest from the 30 plants in his farm, he can make an average of Kshs. 67, 500 in a season.

This is assuming that a singled vine will produce be-tween 20 to 25 yams.

“I prefer selling the seeds than giving them out for free. This is because by buying the seed, a farmer will definitely see the value for the yam and as a result take good care of it as opposed to when one is given for free,” he discloses.

Aerial yams are mostly grown in tropical Africa and especially in Nigeria. The yam is from the yam family (Dioscoreaceae) and reliably produces starch rich edible bulbs along its stems.

It is a plant that bears fruits in 10 months after plant-ing. Just like passion fruit vine, it needs to be provided with support and the yam vine can grow to a height of 5 to 10 metres producing more than 20 kilos of tubers with proper care.

The perennial plant produces annual climbing stems each year from an underground tuber.

Out of the harvest, a farmer keeps the best bulbs for consumption and the smallest mostly on top of the plant are used as planting materials.

“They are grown as an alternative to potato and can be boiled, baked, mashed or used to prepare chips. One can also peal them, slice the yams into pieces, dry them in the sun and ground them for flour production. Drying the slices in the sun increases their shelve life to more than one year,” says Gathogo.

If they drop on the ground, the bulbils undergo a peri-od of dormancy and sprout during the next season.

Dekut engineering students pose for a group photo.


A team of four Dedan Kimathi University (DeKUT) engineering

students has emerged as the overall winner of the Lions of Science 2015 Competition fi-nals.

Their project competed against the best projects from Kenyan universities in different fields such as Agriculture, Engi-neering, Environment, Health, Indigenous Knowledge Natural Sciences, ICT & Media.

The team composed of Ngesa N. Marvin, Irene N. Jepchirchir and Stephen N. Gachara pre-sented UniComm Kit, a wear-able sensor that detects hand gestures and translates sign language into words and au-dio. The same kit also converts speech into words.

Lion of Science (LoS) is a charitable organization regis-tered in Nairobi (Kenya) and Berlin (Germany). It has a plat-form, that aims to yearly award East African College and uni-versity students for their cre-ative and innovative projects in order to promote Science and Innovation through integral entrepreneurship and capacity building.

“This project is for human-

ity’s sake. Unicomm Kit will enable the dumb to deliver lecturers, give memorable speeches and even govern any institution with no hitches since the language barrier has been bridged,” Ngesa Marvin, the lead team said.

The awards include prize money for further develop-ment of the projects, profes-sional mentorship and project incubation at LoS partners like iHub or NaiLab.

The DeKUT Team, popularly known as Tech X, took home Euros 2,000 for their first-place showing. Members of the same team were also at the pivot east 2015 finals and represented the University at the Global En-trepreneurial Summit in July 2015. You may follow their proj-ect on twitter, @Unicomm_kit and on Facebook, Unicomm Kit.

Kimathi University engineering students win at Lions of Science 2015 Competition


KWFT IS ThE WINNER

his excellency the President Uhuru Kenyatta presenting a trophy for the Stand that Best Interprets Current Show theme to Mr. Mwangi Githaiga, the KWFt Managing director, during the official opening of the nairobi International trade Fair 2015.

Report incidents of fallen conductors, leaning

power poles, sagging power lines and any other

danger by calling 95551 and 0703070707.

Message from Safety, Health and Environment department

Highly enhanced rainswill potentially cause:

Collapse of electric poles and lines during flashfloods and land or mudslides

Breaking of conductors due to trees falling on them and from windstorms

Exposure and damage of underground power cables

Interruptions to electricity supply networks due to factors such as flooding of sub-stations

Electrical SafetyAwareness

2,000The amount in Euros DeKUT team took home for their first-place showing.

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

The county government of Nyeri has reduced daily levies charged to hawkers from Sh15 to Sh10.

Nyeri County Governor Nderitu Ga-chagua issued an executive order to have the reduction effected pending an amendment of the same by the County Assembly of Nyeri.

The governor also agreed in a meet-ing with the traders to reduce the fees to Sh250 from Sh300 a month if the traders agree to pay the charges monthly.

“Any hawker who may wish to pay in lump sum shall pay Sh250 per month from the date of this executive order,” stated the Acting County Minister for Fi-nance Charles Githinji while reading the executive order.

Hawkers, shoeshinerss and Bodaboda operators had complained that Sh15 per day was high. Governor Gachagua while speaking to the traders at Whispers Park in Nyeri town encouraged the over 5,000 traders to form a cooperative so that they can be assisted by his county govern-ment. The governor who was accompa-nied by the cooperative officer promised to have the organisation’s registration fast tracked.

Gachagua said Sh46 million has been set aside meant to be borrowed, at no in-terest, by those who have formed groups and would like to expand their business-es. “If you form a cooperating consisting of hawkers, shoe shines and other small entrepreneurs, we shall ensure that we give you first priority so you can borrow the money,” the governor told the traders.

He pledged to give the cooperative Sh5 million so that they can add the amount to their contribution and start borrowing. He said management committees will be formed in all towns in the county such as Karatina, Othaya, Nyeri Town, Narumo-ru, Chaka and Mukurwe-ini soon so they can be working with the administration in spearheading development in their various areas. He said the committee will incorporate people from all sectors.

He also said the county government will spend Sh90 million on bursaries which will be distributed in all wards in the county so as to assist the needy. “Un-like the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), the kitty’s management commit-tee members will identify the needy in various wards in a transparent manner then they will be sponsored throughout their secondary school education,” said Gov. Gachagua.

PARTNERShIP

an MoU was signed between Korea national Police University, South Korea and deKUt on 6th deCeMBer, 2015.

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

Some Nyeri sawmill owners have mechanized their operations in a move aimed at improving efficiency

and maximize profits.Saflo Enterprises director, Samuel

Maina, popularly known as Kabila in the industry, told MT. KENYA STAR in an in-terview that the modernization of logging and wood processing have not only made work easier but also created a safer work-ing environment for employees.

“We have been using a Bell 225A Logger for slightly over three months now and I can confirm that it has made loading and unloading of logs in transportation trucks easier and faster than before when we used human labour to do the same,” said Mr. Kabila who owns a sawmill at Ruring’u in Nyeri Town.

The log loader can also be used to sort and arrange logs into piles. It can as well be leased out to other business people making extra cash. A log loader can lift a load of over three tons in a single grab.

However, he said some of the machines are so expensive for a single businessman to afford which has prompted them to pro-cure the loader in a group of four business-people.

“But it has greatly helped in cutting the cost of loading. In the past, we used to pay about six people to load and offload logs

from transportation trucks but today, we only need the machine operator to do so,” he said.

Other than the loader, the timber mer-chants have also invested in other modern wood processing machines such as the wood-mizer and wood-mizer sharpeners which have greatly improved production and lowered operation cost to a greater extent.

Wood-mizer technology requires less power than a roller bench and so it is en-ergy-efficient.

However, the blades need re-sharpening after sometime but the technology allows the reuse of the blades over and over.

Mr. Kabila also said that the switch from conventional methods of processing wood to modern ones such as wood-mizer tech-nology use have reduced wastage of wood by minimizing the amount of sawdust and maximizing the amount of timber pro-duced from every log

“The use of wood-mizer have greatly reduced wastage and can be in a position to produce 70 to 80 percent of timber un-like the roller bench which only produced 30 to 40 per cent of timber from a log,” he explains.

Kabila who has employed about 20 peo-ple in the yard said contrary to the notion that mechanization minimizes employ-ment opportunities, the equipment instead created more jobs as they had to hire an operator.

“I also had to retain all my former em-ployees, even after modernizing opera-tions, due to an increase in production so that they can handle the timber among other wood products,” he said.

Employees use wood-mizer technology to split a log into timber.

an employee uses a wood-mizer sharpener to sharpen blades.

a Bell 225a logger, sorting out logs and putting them into piles at ruring’u area in nyeri town.

Nyeri sawmills mechanize operations


Relief as hawkers’ fees reduced to Sh10

We have been using a Bell 225A Logger for slightly over three months now and I can confirm that it has made loading and unloading of logs in transportation trucks easier and faster than before when we used human labour to do the same.- Mr. Kabila

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Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2017.

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Highlight

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

The mention of Kangubiri rekin-dles bitter memories for former detainees who underwent un-

told suffering at the institution, then a detention camp, during the struggle for independence.

The 33 acre farm where Kangubi-ri Girls High School stands was then known as Aguthi Works Camp and served as the last stage of vetting and cleansing for those returning from major prisons such as Manyani, Lod-war, Hola and Kapenguria.

The vetting ensured they were ‘changed people who would cooper-ate’ with the government of the day. Today, the area which is a monument of what evidently transpired 50 years ago, serves a different purpose.

To the new generation, the mention of Kangubiri brings in mind a centre of excellence where every parent in Tetu sub-county, Nyeri County, would wish their daughter to be.

And as the institution celebrated its 50 years golden jubilee recently which was characterized by songs and dances, freedom fighters who were de-tained at the institution suggested that the name of the school be changed.

“The school’s name should be changed to reflect the good job done at the former detention camp to trans-form lives of young daughters of this country,” claims freedom fighters.

“During the state of emergency, people believed to be hardcore Mau Mau supporters and their sympathiz-ers were detained at the location be-tween October 1952 to January 1960,” explains Nyeri Museum Assistant Cu-rator Anthony Maina.

They were expected to volunteer vi-tal information about Mau Mau fight-ers through confession upon interro-gation and undergoing torture. The phrase ‘Can Go Free’ turned to a sweat

tune to any person who danced to the tune of the white man then by giving any ‘useful information’ to the colonial government on clandestine activities of the Mau Mau. The school’s name is in fact derived from the phrase.

Most of the prisoners brought at the camp were those from the sur-rounding area who were detained here from major prisons. They were brought near their homes as the sweet melodies of freedom beckoned in early 1960s.

The camp had a slogan boldly writ-ten at the entrance ‘Mwĩteithia Nĩ Eteithagia’ meaning he who helps himself is helped. “When detained there, the prisoners used to do works such as making bricks, building ter-races up the steep ridges, marching long distances to break stones in a quarry and performing nonsensical

work such as scooping water out and dumping it on the bank,” explains Mr. Maina.

Other duties performed at the camp included digging very large holes and refilling them just to make detainees miserable.

According to Mathenge Iregi, an 83-year-old former Kangubiri detain-ee, many people held at the camp were tortured and others killed. He says the area was surrounded with barbed wire, a big trench with spikes inside and armed guards to boot making it difficult for anyone to escape.

“If the colonial government re-ceived any negative report about you from either a member of the public or the then powerful chiefs that you were cooperating with the Mau Mau or you were engaged in the administration of oath or involved in any activity asso-

ciated with the outlawed movement, that was itself enough ticket to be sent to a detention camp or even prison,” says Iregi.

“When most of us arrived at Kan-gubiri, we were made to spend seven days while naked” he adds. Today bod-ies of people who died due to beatings and other forms of torture such as being denied medical attention when they fell sick lie in mass graves in the compound.

But many of the detainees, includ-ing Mr. Iregi, who spoke to MT. KEN-YA STAR were of the opinion that it is time the school’s name is changed. The sentiments are supported by an-other detainee Mr. Tarascicio Waweru, 89, who has four missing teeth which he claims were knocked down at the camp.

The same, he says, should be done to other institutions that bring back the bad memories of suffering during the struggle such as Mweru High School which was also a detention camp.

The first assistant chief for Mung’aria sub-location who served the area for about 24 years from 1966, says the penal facility was later converted to a school soon after independence with chiefs William Mathenge of the then Aguthi location and Muhoya Ka-humba of Tetu being instrumental in the marshaling of resources.

The school principal Esther Mbuga describes the learning institution as ‘a house that defeats the shadow’. “The school has grown from 40 students to the current more than 900 students; a one stream school to the current five streams, 10 dormitories, an office complex, staff houses and an ultra modern library complex among oth-ers,” she says. Other than ranking high in university intake in Nyeri County, Kangubiri also does exemplary well in co-curricular activities.

How Kangubiri High School grew from a detention centre to a centre of excellence


FARE ThE WEll

Retired President Mwai Kibaki and former Othaya MP, joins the current Othaya MP Mary Wambui during the burial of Wambui’s sister, 75-year-old Anne Wakarima.Kibaki said Wakarima was a hardworking and generous woman who devoted herself to the country. Others present were MPs Esther Murugi, (Nyeri town), Francis Waititu (Juja) and Nyeri Senator Mutahi Kagwe. Kagwe asked Nyeri MCAs to stop infighting and solve disputes amicably, saying: “The wrangles in our county assembly are not healthy. Let us work together for the sake of development.”

Murang’a women representative, Sabina Chege, and Gatundu South MP, Moses Kuria, inspect a guard of honour mounted by Kangubiri Girls high school girl guides during celebrations to mark 50 years of Golden Jubilee.

Former Mau Mau detainee, Mathenge Iregi, addresses the gathering.

The 33 acre farm where Kangubiri Girls High School stands was known as Aguthi Works Camp and served as the last stage of vetting and cleansing for those returning from major prisons such as Manyani, Lodwar, Hola and Kapenguria.

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

Men have been remind-ed that breast cancer does not affect women

only but invades men’s breasts as well.

The Director of Outspan Medical College and Outspan Hospital Dr. Macharia Kiruhi therefore advised men to be keen and go for screening im-mediately they feel a change in their breasts so that the problem can be diagnosed.

“We advice men that if they feel there is any change in their breast, they should come promptly so that we can be able to check what problem is there. We always advice that if there is an issue even of a small swelling, we remove the breast because unlike in women where they use their breasts for many other rea-sons including the sexual appeal as well as breastfeeding, men don’t use theirs for that,” said the doctor.

He said it is easy for men to detect they have a problem with their breast because the breast is small and they can be able to notice it much faster than wom-en where it hides within tissues found in the breast.

Dr. Kiruhi, however, said the percentage of men who get can-cer of the breast is less than ten percent compared to 90 per cent of cases reported in women. The doctor stressed that the disease can easily spread in other tissues in men than in women due to the small size of their breasts.

“For men, we fear it a little bit more and that is because

the breast size of men is small and therefore if there is a can-cer which is starting there, it invades the whole gland and

the surrounding tissues and can spread to other areas within a very short time,” said Dr. Kiruhi during a breast cancer aware-ness open day held at Outspan Medical College recently.

Gerald Thuo, a 70-year-old breast cancer survivor, said many men do not know they can be victims of breast cancer. Mr. Thuo from Mweiga in Nyeri County narrated how he was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 after he discovered a swell-ing in his left breast before visit-ing Outspan Hospital where he underwent cancer testing and turned positive. He underwent the treatment process in time.

Thuo who has been a peer ed-ucator on cancer claims unlike women, men do not take their health seriously saying it is time they change the attitude and start going to hospital for med-ical checkups. “Men are dying of breast cancer due to ignorance and it is time they start going for screening for cancer and other illnesses,” Thuo advised.

Men urged to test for breast cancer

10% of Nyeri deaths caused by cancer as residents are urged to go for cancer testing

Gerald thuo, a 70-year-old breast cancer survivor.

outspan Medical College and outspan hospital director, dr. Macharia Kiruhi.

We advice men that if they feel there is any change in their breast, they should come promptly so that we can be able to check what problem is there. We always advice that if there is an issue even of a small swelling, we remove the breast because unlike in women where they use their breasts for many other reasons including the sexual appeal as well as breastfeeding, men don’t use theirs for that,” said the doctor.

Cancer Awareness >

BY EUTYCAS MUCHIRI

About 10% of all people who died in Nyeri County in 2014 died because of cancer, according to new data seen by MT. KENYA STAR.

Data availed to NYERI STAR by Nyeri County Gov-ernment, department of health, cancer alone contrib-uted to 10.1 per cent of all deaths that occurred in the county in 2014 while hypertension and diabetes con-tributed to 5.9 and 3.6 per cent of deaths respectively.

On outpatient department morbidity, 41083 cases of hypertension, with 4.8 per cent being new cases, and 13884 of diabetes, out of which 1.6 per cent were new cases, were reported in 2012/13.

In 2013/14, there were 44369 cases of hypertension and 10517 of diabetes while there were 3.6 per cent of new cases of hypertension and 0.85 per cent of new cas-es of diabetes reported.

In 2014/15, already there are 37,143 cases of hyperten-sion and 7793 of diabetes reported.

Dr. Macharia Kiruhi who is the director of Outspan Hospital says majority of people seeking treatment for chronic diseases at the facility’s outpatient and inpa-tient departments suffer from diabetes, hypertension or related complications.

But Dr. Kiruhi also notes that cases of people seeking cancer treatment are also on the rise.

“I have been working in this region for the last 22 years and I can say that at this particular time, there is certainly many more cancer cases than I used to see before,” says the doctor.

WHO website names some of the risk bahavioural factors as modifiable such as tobacco use, physical inac-tivity, unhealthy diet and harmful use of alcohol.

The four main types of chronic diseases are cardio-vascular diseases like heart attacks and stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructed pulmonary disease, asthma and diabetes.

According to Dr. Njururi Mutahi of Healthy Living Centre in Nyeri, ignorance, failure to appreciate need for balanced diet, self destructive lifestyle and lack of education contribute greatly to the increase of lifestyle diseases.

“The increase of the diseases is due to lack of bal-anced feeding either after indulgence in certain kind of foods while neglecting others or underfeeding across the board due to lack of food or appetite,” states Dr. Njururi.

Others are overindulgence in foods such as meat, eggs, milk, processed food and fast food which are ei-ther overcooked thus killing certain nutrients or cooked in a way that is not healthy.

Research conducted by WHO showed that red meat, bacon and other processed meats can cause cancers such as the colon, prostate, pancreatic, stomach and other cancers.

Some other foods have overexposure to chemicals throughout the food chain from growth where they are exposed to fertilizers, chemical sprays, harvesting and storage where they are treated with preservatives.

Other than the addition of preservatives during pro-cessing, some nutrients are removed such as maize jam and bran in maize leaving only starch. The removed parts contain minerals and dietary fibre.

“Some people also indulge in overuse of table sugar and other food and drinks that are heavy on sugar such as sodas and sugared fruit juices, biscuits, doughnuts, pancakes, mandazi (bun), sweats and other lifestyle undertaking like alcohol, tobacco, medical drugs and narcotics,” states Njururi.

Sometimes people are engaged in this skewed feed-ing with deficiency in vegetables and fruits and failure to consume enough water. An adult requires about two litres in a day for cleansing the body as well as helping in necessary physiological processes.

Failure to take enough water leads to accumulation of pathogens, toxins and body wastes which have over-all effect of lowering body immunity and make it vul-

nerable to diseases.Environmental factors such as poor air quality and

noise pollution which causes stress have also been said to affect health by lowering immunity making the body vulnerable. Water is also contaminated due to use of farm chemicals, industrial pollutants, and urban envi-ronmental activities among others.

Acid, alkaline (PH) imbalance can weaken the body’s immunity. The body functions optimally when the PH balance is within a certain range. PH balance is deter-mined by what people eat.

“When PH is off the range, the body’s immune sys-tem is challenged and it becomes vulnerable to all ail-ments and diseases,” says Njururi.

Tobacco, alcohol, overuse of animal products, narcot-ics and refined table sugar in beverages, plus stress and environmental distress make the body very acidic away from the right PH level.

“These diseases affect the body on the weakest parts. When the body is acidic, the immunity low in addition to internal problems such as arthritis, diabetes , hy-pertension, asthma, cancer, prostrate and fibroids, the body becomes vulnerable to pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and the toxins they produce and to this point the body health deteriorates further,” he contin-ues.

To solve the problem, Dr. Njururi advises, people need to change their eating habits and ensure they take plenty of water.

“The body needs right balance of minerals, vitamins, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and water. The balance is achieved through balanced feeding so the body can get the materials for repair, renewal and growth. But when that lacks, then the body is in a state of Dis-Ease,” he advises.

Cancer and other chronic diseases have various challenges. According to WHO, the rise in the diseas-es impedes poverty reduction initiatives in low-income countries, particularly by increasing household costs associated with health care.

Dr. Njururi adds that their increase not only causes pain to the victims but also results in adverse economic impact to individuals (victims), family and the country’s economy.

This is in terms of direct cost of medical, downtime as one stops being productive after falling sick, money and time spent by relatives to cater for the sick. Most people travel for long distances to seek treatment for some of the diseases such as cancer.

“There is the involvement of time by loved ones tak-ing care of the person such as washing, feeding and looking for money for medication among other needs of the sick,” says Njururi.

Dr. Kiruhi of Outspan Hospital says the cost of can-cer treatment is exorbitant and not many people can comfortably afford to get proper management without complaining.

He says first line of treatment of majority of cancer is surgery. One requires to undergo a surgical operation followed by the process of chemotherapy and other can-cer forms of treatment which are extremely expensive.

Outspan hospital, he says, has a management policy where patients who visit the hospital are treated wheth-er they have money or not, provided the capacity to treat the problem is there, and it is after the treatment that the patient is told the cost of treatment.

Majority of the patients undergoing the expensive type of treatment will not be able to manage and the load is therefore left with the hospital.

“We wish that we have a comprehensive insurance cover for everybody since for every patient who will be treated, at least there is something to be paid to the in-stitution,” he suggests.

The government, he says can alternatively come up with a policy where cancer patients can get some finan-cial aid so that they can be treated in any hospital in a standard manner.

SPECIAL REPORT 11MT KENYA STARDECEMBER 2015

Members of the public undergo medical screening during a cancer awareness open day.


President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to reshuffle his Cabinet—the first since he rose to power nearly three years

ago—has brought to the limelight his game-plan to improve Jubilee’s odds in 2017, with the appointment of a team built for poli-cy-making, delivery and electoral warfare.

The President has recently been under pressure to bring in new faces in govern-ment following concerns of widespread corruption within its ranks and claims of a largely inefficient Jubilee regime. On June 24, he hired seven new ministers (two of them drawn from Parliament), fired five while expanding the number of Cabinet dockets.

So, what informed the latest Cabinet reshuffle and will the new team deliver 2017 victory for President Kenyatta and his deputy William ruto?

Uhuru’s decision was a balancing act be-

tween playing politics and pushing the gov-ernment’s development agenda—he now has 8 politicians (including himself and Ruto) in the Cabinet, 9 technocrats and 5 mixed (civil society, academics and private sector) appointees. Mr Kenyatta expanded the Cabinet posts from 19 to 21 and state departments from 26 to 41.

President Kenyatta, observers said, was keen to surround himself with a cabinet that serves as a perfect political juggernaut while delivering Jubilee election manifesto, two years into the 2017 polls and capable of keeping at bay jabs by the Raila Odinga-led Opposition.

Evidently, the opposition has had a much more superior think-tank capacity backed by a powerful political machine and spin-doctors to shape public opinion through mass media and lurch on one is-sue after another, in most cases with total success and devastating impact on the Ken-yatta regime.

A look at all post-2010 Kenyan Govern-ments show that the regimes have had to

build capacity to defend their policies out-side the existing Government structures. Unlike previous cabinets which could spin and publicly defend Government positions and policies, the current largely non-polit-ical and technocratic Cabinet Secretaries have often relied on defence from politi-cians, some time with destructive results, as it was the case with the former Devolu-tion Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru who stepped aside following a sustained on-slaught by the Opposition over alleged cor-ruption in her Ministry. However, Cabinet secretaries with a political background—Jo-seph Nkaissery, Eugene Wamalwa and Na-jib Balala —have appeared more nuanced and adept in defending themselves and the Government than their technocratic coun-terparts.

In an apparent resolve to fashion his Cabinet around a political machine, Mr Kenyatta has brought in Kericho Senator Charles Keter (to head the Energy and Pe-troleum docket), Malindi MP Dan Kazungu (Mining) and former Laikipia MP Mwangi Kiunjuri (to head the powerful Devolution and Planning docket).

President Kenyatta outlined four objec-tives that the cabinet will focus on which include enhancing public service delivery by fast tracking adoption of technology, reducing bureaucracy and providing better oversight and leadership in government.

“I am announcing today the first of sev-eral far reaching structural and personnel changes that will go to the heart of the government,” said Mr Kenyatta. “Having savored our successes and having taken stock of our challenges, the time has now come to give my government’s develop-ment agenda fresh impetus and to give the Kenyan public a demonstration example of my unwavering commitment to delivering on the promises of my administration,” Mr Kenyatta said.

The Jubilee regime has faced surging criticism that corruption within govern-ment had reached astronomical levels during its nearly three year stay in power, with the opposition launching scathing attacks on key government officials, a turn

of events which saw the fall of Ms Waigu-ru who was perhaps President Kenyatta’s most powerful minister.

Five other former cabinet secretaries who had stepped aside or resigned because of graft allegations were axed from the new line up. They included Charity Ngilu, Felix Koskei, Davis Chirchir, Kazungu Kambi of Labour, and Michael Kamau. Other key operatives who have been dropped are Francis Kimemia the former secretary to the cabinet and several PSs such as Mutea Iringo and Nduva Muli.

The Opposition has branded the gov-ernment as “unfit to rule” citing mainly cases of corruption in government. How-ever, Jubilee-allied analysts and opposition critics said this is aimed at forcing the gov-ernment to jettison its development pro-gramme and jump into the campaign trail. With few choices on its strategy table, the Jubilee administration now has to strike a delicate balance between fully implement-ing its 2013 electoral promises and staying ahead of the game by effectively countering and cutting down the opposition’s agenda.

Mr Kenyatta has publicly stated he is in the 2017 presidential race to get a second term that will run till 2022 when he will pass on the baton to Mr Ruto.

A look at the path towards the 2017 elec-tion shows that President Kenyatta faces three key issues which could determine the odds in the polls. First, there is need to ef-fectively counter and neutralize the opposi-tion’s divisive campaign to ensure electoral stability in 2017 and after.

Secondly, in the absence (or diminished status) of the ICC factor that largely framed the 2013 election, there is need for a griev-ance issue that unites the nation around the Jubilee government.

Finally, the Jubilee government will have to pare down its 2013 issues to a few prior-ities, mainly around the economy, food se-curity, devolution and education, the three issues which could tempt voters, analysts said.

“While projects like the SGR are national, it is important to strategically de-center the campaign to neutralize the inclusivity cam-

paign of the opposition by creating unify-ing projects within specific voting clusters. Ultimately, Jubilee will need to create a massive political capacity to neutralize the opposition’s withering campaign supposed-ly based on ‘research’ and heavy data,” said a political analyst who consults for the Ju-bilee government.

Jubilee’s Performance record

Latest government performance data—

conducted by a team of scholars gathered from several local universities and a num-ber of independent researchers— show that the Jubilee regime is on course to deliver on its pre-election promises ahead of the 2017 elections, giving the regime top marks on investments on infrastructure, energy and health.

The government has so far met at least 59.49 per cent of its targeted goals, said the October 2015 report.

Since winning in 2013, President Kenyat-ta has focused on growing his domestic and international ratings. On the former, he has made over 30 foreign trips in the past one and a half years in visits aimed at improv-ing Kenya’s image abroad and seeking new diplomatic allies. The greatest gains from Kenyatta’s diplomatic engagements in Afri-ca and beyond have been on the regional front. Today, Kenyan professionals do not require work permit to work in Uganda or Rwanda and vice versa. Citizens can also travel freely within these countries.

Coming against the backdrop of deep-ening electoral politics that threaten to distract the Government from effectively implementing its electoral promises, the findings effectively provide scenarios and options for the government in strengthen-ing its political capacity to manage oppo-sition politics while continuing with the implementation process in the remaining months.

The study makes a number of recom-mendations among them that the Jubilee Government has to strengthen its own outreach and communication capacity to build on its achievements in areas such

as governance, energy and transport and infrastructure and soar its popularity and power.”The government needs to create public awareness through civic education on these gains to drown the growing sense of public disillusionment particularly with the new constitutional dispensation” said the survey. “In the remaining months be-fore the 2017 campaign, the administration should be guided by this study to draw a sharp focus on the weakest areas of perfor-mance that require concerted efforts and investments”

Is the Cabinet to Blame for the Flaws in the development record?

When President Kenyatta and Deputy Ruto witnessed the swearing in of their first cabinet on May 15 2013, they termed it as a technocrat cabinet, a first for Kenya. Previ-ously, the cabinetcomprised of sitting MPs but the 2010 constitution embedded sepa-ration powers between the executive, par-liament and judiciary, Article 152 (3) of the constitution states that, “a cabinet secretary shall not be a Member of Parliament.”

However, two years after the cabinet was sworn in, it has performed below the ex-pectation of the executive and the public, critics said.

President Kenyatta has previously ac-cused his cabinet ministers of inaction in implementing the government agenda. Af-ter this year’s state of the nation address, a third of the cabinet ministers were forced to step aside because of corruption allega-tions. The president’s delay in filling the posts led to speculation on whether the ministers who had been cleared by the EACC would be reinstated.

A section of URP politicians called for the reinstatement of Felix Koskei and Davis Chirchir who hail from Rift valley. “We are now reading politics over this delay. Some people want to short change URP. The min-isters should be brought back or else we re-consider our stand in the coalition,” Alfred Keter, the Nandi Hills MP said recently. Mr Chirchir and Koskei were however dropped in the reshuffle.

Mr Kenyatta too has in several instances appeared to question the commitment of some of hiscabinet ministers.

In June this year, Mr Kenyatta hit at his cabinet ministers for snubbing a youth fo-rum on entrepreneurship held in Strath-more Business School. He told off Adan Mohamed the CS for Industrialization and Enterprise Development, Treasury’s Hen-ry Rotich and Jacob Kaimenyi who then headed the Education docket. Uhuru ad-monished the cabinet ministers as he retal-iated that the youth agenda was key in the Jubilee government.

“Henry Rotich was supposed to be here, he is not in. Kaimenyi is nowhere to be seen. Adan Mohammed was supposed to be here, he is not in, but when there are deals to be made with foreigners, you will see them rushing there. That should stop.” Uhuru lamented. The Youth Summit was held in the run up of Global Entrepreneur-ship Summit in July that was attended by USA president Barack Obama.

FOR THE GOOD OF NYERI PEOPLE


0 7 9 2 3 8 2 3 4 9 2 1 0 >

Will the new cabinet deliver Uhuru’s 2017 win?

William ruto: Deputy President.

dan Kazungu: Nominated CS Mining.

Githu Muigai: Attorney General.

Joe Mucheru: Nominated CS ICT.

Charles Keter: Nominated CS Energy.

Cecily Kariuki: Nominated CS Public

Mwangi Kiunjuri: Nominated CS Devolution.

Willy Bett: Nominated CS Agriculture.

Cleopa Mailu: Nominated CS Health.

eugine Wamalwa: Nominated CS Water.President Uhuru Kenyatta.


Wilson Irungu Nyakera, 33-year-old finance expert from Murang’a is Ken-

ya’s youngest Principal Secretary (PS). Irungu was nominated Presi-dent Uhuru Kenyatta as the PS for Transport during the recent cabinet reorganization.Those who know Irungu say he is an exceptionally gifted person, in academics and streetwise, having handled some of the mega deals in Kenya’s financial sector, went to some of the world’s best business schools and has worked for reputed companies outside Kenya.Irungu is currently the Executive Director of the Equity Investment Bank, a position he is expected to relinquish once parliament con-firms him.Before joining Equity, he worked in South Africa as the Regional Man-ager for Frontier Markets Fund

Managers, a UK-based fund focus-ing on emerging markets.

And before then, he was the Man-aging Director of Before moving to NIC Capital, the investment. While he was at the NIC Bank, he worked under James Macharia, it’s then CEO. Mr. Macharia is now the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Irungu will work directly un-der him.

There is speculation that CS Mach-aria may have played a role in rec-ommending appointment of Iringu because of his high delivery creden-tials which also motivated Equity Group CEO James Mwangi to head-hunt Irungu from South Africa.The pairing of the two at the Min-istry of Transport was praised, seen as one of the best moves by Presi-dent Uhuru as it may result in fast-er delivery of the projects.“It is a perfect match,” said Prof. Wainaina Gituro, the acting Direc-tor of Vision 2030 who knows the two.Irungu is a former student of Starehe Boys Centre where he was ranked position 32 nationally in KCSE.Among his key achievements is assisting Housing Finance raise a bond of Sh10 billion and arranging a Sh1.2 billion equity-linked bond for Athi River Mining Company among other deals.

KUTUS | DECEMBER, 2015 ISSUE 016 www.mtkenyastar.com PRICE: KSh30

For the Good oF MUranG’a PeoPle

IN OTHER PAGES

Wa Iria launches coffee revival project

Rwathia’s Capitalists: The last of the first

In the 1930s, a blush of boys from Rwathia village in Kangema walked to Nairobi in tattered clothes in search of money. Several decades later, they got money and a lot of it, but their children have even more.

IRUNGU’S CAREER & EDUCATION PATH

Murang’a produces youngest PS

Irungu Nyakera: Nominated PS, Ministry for Transport.

Peter Munga. Benson Wairegi.Dr. James Mwangi. JImnah Mbaru.

Rwathia’s business community pioneer Gerald Gikonyo Kanyuira, now aged 102.

STORY ON PAGE 02

PUBLISHERS

2015: Nominated Principal Secretary, Ministry of Transport

Jul 2014 – Dec 2015: Managing Director, Equity Investment Bank

Mar 2013 – Jul 2014: Regional Head, East & Southern Africa Frontier Markets Fund Managers, Guarantco

Feb 2012 – Mar 2013: Managing Director, NIC Capital Ltd

Feb 2010 – Mar 2012: General Manager, NIC Capital Ltd

Jan 2007 – Febr 2009: Financial Analyst, Citigroup

2003 – 2007: Student Stanford University, Bsc in Management Science Engineering

Jan 2002 – Aug2002: Teacher Nyahururu Elite Schools

murang’a county government has started taking neW steps meant at increasing coffee production for the next five years.

STORY ON PAGE 6 >>

NEWS2 DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR


In the 1930s, a blush of boys from Rwathia village in Kangema walked to Nairobi

in tattered clothes in search of money. Several decades later, they got money and a lot of it, but their children have even more.

Today, the value of the prop-erty owned by the Rwathia businessmen in Nairobi, Thika, Murang’a and other towns runs into billions of shillings, and their billionaire sons and men-tees control substantial wealth at the Nairobi Securities Market.

Rwathia’s Capitalists is a sto-ry of unequalled dedication, passion and inspiration that en-abled young boys, most of whom are now deceased, to transform their lives through enterprise and set an example for genera-tions to come.

Gerald Gikonyo Kanyuira, now aged 102 years is the only remaining patriarch of the great capitalist boys from Rwathia. Perhaps as an indication of the sheer determination in them, at his age, he still supervises sever-al businesses owned by the vari-ous groups from Rwathia.

The trigger for the business acumen that has put Rwathia in the global map of villages that have produced exceptional entrepreneurs started in 1930 when a group of boys came to Nairobi and ended up starting vegetables hawking business.

“We would buy the vegetables from Marikiti Market, brought in by people from Limuru, and sell them to the Asian families,” he said. This business was done exclusively by boys as girls were not allowed to work outside their homes. They had to wait for marriage. Today however, it is women who hawk vegetables to the Asian families in Park-lands and Ngara.

Since there were no banks for Africans then, the young boys would send one of their friends

back to the village to deliver some savings for safe keeping by the elders. When the boys in the city needed to increase their in-vestment, they would go back to the village and get their savings.

This cycle had a ripple effect. Seeing how their peers were able to save some money, more boys from Rwathia were encouraged to come to the city and start sim-ilar or different businesses.

“There was a wave of boys from Rwathia coming to Nai-robi. We encouraged it because we all wanted to do business to-gether,” he said.

It is then that the Rwathia boys decided to form several savings groups. One person could belong to several savings groups.

Property buying

After seven years of selling veg-etables and doing other busi-nesses in Nairobi, the savings groups started buying buildings from the Asians in Pumwani to set up shops and small dukas. A group of five to 12 people would buy one shop and jointly start a business. The Asians were sell-ing the shops to come closer to the city centre.

In 1952, the groups decid-ed to start buying plots where they built houses for rental and business premises. But this new investment was disrupted the following year when the Mau Mau issue became so hot that the Kikuyus in Nairobi had to be taken to the villages and hound-ed in restricted areas known as Ichagi.

The period that followed was of shear destruction by the co-lonialists. They particularly tar-geted Kikuyu owned businesses as they suspected they were part of the Mau Mau support base. All they had built was razed to ashes.

entry into town city centre

By 1957, the Mau Mau war had slowed because it was taking toll on either side of the divide. The colonialists started to allow some Kikuyus who had busi-nesses back to Nairobi. They called for amnesty.

The boys from Rwathia, now seasoned businesses men, took the offer and decided to up their ambitions.

“When we returned, we de-cided that we would henceforth enter the city centre, where we were not allowed before. Our idea was to rent building and start businesses. But most of the buildings we wanted to rent were owned by Asians. And they were fearful of the Mu Mau war so many of them were migrating from Kenya and selling those buildings. This is how we start-ed buying some of the buildings that we still own.”

“Again, we started buying in groups as we had done in Pum-wani and Majengo. As many as 30 people would buy one build-ing. All the small saving groups from Rwathia worked in har-mony. So you would find one person owning shares in several groups. It was the best thing we did for ourselves.”

Fast forward

Today the Rwathia groups con-trol prime properties in Nairobi especially within areas of lower Tom Mboya Street, Ronald Ng-ara Street, River Road among others.

Buildings and hotels such as Magomano, Kinangop, Njogui-ni, Eureka and Timboroa among others are all owned by several savings groups from Rwathia.

“The big lesson that we learnt and which we would want gen-erations to understand is that one cannot achieve much alone. It is important to cooperate, even if it is only with your wife. People should come together. This is what I tell young men from Rwathia.”

“We succeeded because we

had passion for our business-es. It is important for people to have passion in what they do even if they are employed. If one is not passionate, it is better to resign than spoil other people’s business.”

He says the Rwathia groups thrived on trust. “Each group would pick one of them to man-age the business. Every month, members of the group come to inspect the financial books. At the end of the year, we divide the profits or re-invest,” said the Mzee Gikonyo.

the new rwathia capitalists

The seeds of capitalism sowed by the uneducated boys in the 1930s germinated and have grown into a new generation of immensely rich, influential and educated individuals in Kenya and across the world.

These include people like Eq-uity Bank Chairman Peter Mun-ga, who had diversified business interests in banking, insurance, education and farming in Kenya and Rwanda among other coun-tries.

Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi who is one of the most respected bankers in Africa. He is a wealthy philanthropist. In 2013, Mwangi donated Sh100 million of his own money to Meru University of Science and Technology to help set up teach-ing facilities.

Billionaire investment banker Jimnah Mbaru, insurance mag-nate Benson Wairegi, influential scholars like Prof. Peter Kag-wanja are just a few of the larg-er Rwathia high fliers in Kenya and abroad.

According to Dr Bitange Ndemo, a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi’s Business School, although no scientific research has been conducted, he says probably the most suc-cessful people in Kenya or East Africa come from Rwathia.

“This village arguably controls

almost 20 percent of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and almost 40 per cent of the stock market in Kenya,” he said.

“Their forbearers like Geris-hon Kirima and Gerald Gikonyo, one of the co-founders of Rwath-ia Distributors) were successful in spite of the fact that they had limited education. Rwathia’s third generation is succeeding not just here in Kenya but in far-flung areas like the United States,” said Dr Ndemo.

“Equity’s Corporate Social Responsibility in Wings to Fly, which is sponsoring students to attend some of the best univer-sities in the world is enough to shower blessings on its found-ers. So whichever way you look at this, Dr. Mwangi and his teams have left an indelible mark that will never be matched by any organization in the fore-seeable future,” he said.

Henzlon Waithaka, a distin-guished accountant and director of several companies, education-ists and researchers have not conducted enough research to establish the factors that influ-ence the people of Rwathia to venture into business and why most of them are successful. “We need to conduct a research and document the factors that influence entrepreneurship in the area.

The other area where we have successful entrepreneurs is Karatina in Nyeri and Kiambaa in Kiambu Counties respective-ly,” he wrote on his blog.

“It is important to encour-age the Youth by giving them examples of people who have worked smart and hard to rise up to the top although they were from humble back grounds. Many books in this country we read about Companies such as General Electric, Ford, and many Indian Companies. Books should now be written about the successful people in Kenya, East Africa and Africa and they will motivate the youth,” he said.

Rwathia’s Capitalists: The last of the first<< CONT. FROM PG 1

It is sad that many people are today bogged down by the ravaging pain of Arthritis or symptoms associated with it yet there is a permanent remedy to this condition.

Such individuals cannot engage in any gainful economic activity because they are consumed by the severe pains.

Arthritis, which is not a single disease as many people assume but a broad term that covers over 100 medical conditions has been known to affect elderly people the most but with changes in life style, we encounter younger and younger patients with this condition more often than not.

From our 19 years experience giving permanent relief to those who fi nd themselves with the condition, at Murugu Natural & Nutritional Clinic wecan competently shed light on what we know about Arthritis and how we overcome it.

* The leading cause of arthritis is malfunction in calcium metabolism which is caused by hindrance in nutrients absorption in the small intestines. This is caused by among others, calcium-defi cient diets, poor calcium assimilation due to indigestion. Ulcers and Amoeba are the leading causes of indigestion and keeping the body free from them goes a long way in locking Arthritis outside the door.

* Infection. Any factor that hampers Calcium Metabolism which is responsible for healthy bones and joints earn the individual Arthritis. Eventually when uric-acid-crystals get deposited in joint tissues, they cause recurring attacks of joint infl ammation which explains the strong pains. Other notable infections such as syphilis are some of the known predisposing factors to the condition.

* Hormonal imbalance aggravated by advancing age in post menopause stages of life is another cause. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is for instance more common in women than men and according to the Arthritis Foundation in the Unites States, 70 per cent of people with RA are women.

It is worth noting that irrespective of age, taking calcium defi cient diets

A call for an Arthritis free world in four months

Dkt Murugu, the founder of Murugu Natural & Nutritional Clinic.

for a considerable period of time makes us good candidates for Arthritis.

Even after curing our patients, we put them on a 4 year observation program just to ensure there is no relapse and gladly, none of our patients have come back to say they were duped, something that gives us more confi dence and gusto with which to slay the dragon of Arthritis.

TreatmentMost of the conventional medicines administered on people with arthritis are largely pain management which means the patient has to contend with the condition for life. But this comes with obvious dangers are life time usage means damage to vital organs like the Kidney and Liver which become clogged up.

At Murugu Natural & Nutritional Clinic we cure arthritis by addressing the root causes. Depending on results of the diagnosis and in case where hormonal imbalance is the cause, we correct the imbalance in six days and in cases where defect in calcium metabolism is the cause, we test for ulcers and amoeba. We then treat the diseases. We cast our net wide and do tests for other infections known to cause the condition.

Experience has demonstrated to us that by addressing all the causes, Ar-thritis becomes curable and this is contrary to what most of us has grown up knowing that the condition can only be managed and not cured.

At Murugu Natural & Nutritional Clinic, we have heavily invested in un-matched herbal medicines which are a product of collaborative research between us and some leading scholars in Kenyan universities.

Finally, we trigger healing process through administering a mixture of herbal medicines. Our aim is to boost the body to treat itself through proper nutrients derived from right diets and this we do in four months using herbal medicines that have no side effects.

We discourage Arthritis patients from opting for surgery as fi rst link treat-ment because recovery chances are very slim compared to what we offer.

[email protected]

Rieti House (New Coop Bank Building) 3rd Floor room 32 along Uganda Road next to Kogo Plaza Eldoret branch opens every Wednesday

OPEN DAILY


A granny has celebrated 125 years at Ng’araria village in Kandara sub county, Mu-

rang’a County.Villagers flocked the home of Glad-

ys Wanjiru Wahuang’a who has 44 grandchildren, 67 grandchildren and 10 great-great-grandchildren to cele-brate her age which most said is the oldest they have seen in the area.

When asked when she was born, Wanjiru who still has a great sense of humour jokingly said she is as old as ‘heaven and earth’ and went ahead to give stories of how she grew up and even participated in the fight for in-dependence.

The granny was blessed with one daughter who in turn got 10 children and said she draws her motivation from her large family.

She said her favorite food is ma-toke, arrowroots and other tradition-al foods which she said have kept her strong.

The almost toothless Wanjiru sur-prised many when she effortlessly downed a plate of chapati, rice and stew.

Wanjiru still walks by herself with the help of a walking stick and many who were in attendance thought she was not a day older than 90 years.

Many described her as a strong woman who has been instrumental in gluing her family together and is always calling for meetings to solve family issues.

“She calls us for meetings and even volunteers to sponsor our travel expenses so that we can solve any dis-agreements among us,” said Kenneth Muhuang’a, one of her grandsons.

Muhuang’a said they have seen neighbors disagreeing to the point of killing each other but that their gran-ny does not allow their family issues to escalate to that level despite the fact that there are more men than women in the family.

He said the family is thankful and proud to have a granny who is more than a century old and who still holds their family together.

The grandson said the centenar-ian has instilled deep family values in members of her family and is re-spected by all.

“She brought us all up and even saw us through our education and the least we can do is take care of her and hope that she will have many more years,” added Muhuang’a.

Cucu celebrates 125 years

125Th BIRThDAY!

Gladys Wanjiru Wahuang’a during her 125 birthday celebrations at her home in ng’araria, Kandara sub county, Murang’a county.

ADVERTISEMENTDECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR 3

TENDER NOTICE

The Principal SecretaryMinistry of Health

P. O. Box 30016-00100NAIROBI

Head/Supply Chain Management ServicesFor: Principal Secretary

REPUBLIC OF KENYA

1. TENDER NO.MOH/KIDDP/11/2015-2016: PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF LABORATORY AND OFFICE BLOCK AT KIGUMO SUB-COUNTY HOSPITAL – MURANGA COUNTY (NCA 6 AND ABOVE)

2. TENDER NO.MOH/KIDDP/12/2015-2016: PROPOSED RENOVATION OF KAPENGURIA COUNTY HOSPITAL, PHASE IV, WEST POKOT COUNTY (NCA 3 AND ABOVE)

3. TENDER NO.MOH/KIDDP/13/2015-2016: PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF OUTPATIENT BLOCK, LABORATORY AND GENERAL WARD AT USENGE DISPENSARY – SIAYA COUNTY (NCA 6 AND ABOVE)

4. TENDER NO.MOH/KIDDP/14/2015-2016: PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF GENERAL WARDS AND MATERNITY BLOCK AT ILEHO HEALTH CENTRE – KAKAMEGA COUNTY (NCA 6 AND ABOVE)

The Government of the Republic of Kenya, Kenya-Italy Debt for Development Programme (KIDDP) intends to undertake upgrading and rehabilitation of facilities at Kigumo Sub-County Hospital in Muranga County, Kapenguria County Hospital in West Pokot County, Usenge Dispensary in Siaya County and Ileho Health Centre in Kakamega County.

The Ministry of Health now invites interested and eligible contractors registered with National Construction Authority (KCA) to bid for the above works.

Complete Tender Documents with speci�cations, Bills of Quantities and conditions of contract, can be obtained from the Head, Supply Chain Management Services, 5th Floor, Room 510B, Afya House, Nairobi, during working hours, upon payment of a Non-Refundable fee of Kshs.1,000/= in cash, or bankers cheque payable to the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health.

Additional information may be obtained from the respective Health Facility-In-Charge.

The bidders shall seal one original and one copy in two separate envelopes inside one envelope bearing the name and the number of the tender but not indicating the Tenderer’s name. The inner envelopes to be marked “ORIGINAL” and “COPY” as appropriate. The three envelopes to be addressed to:

and be placed into the Tender Box placed at the main entrance of Afya House not later than 17th December, 2015 at 10.00am. Responding bids will be opened immediately thereafter in the GTZ Boardroom, Afya House, in the presence of the bidders representatives who choose to attend. All bids shall be valid for a period of 120 days after opening and MUST be accompanied by a bid security from a reputable bank or approved insurance company equivalent to 2% of the Tender Sum.

Late bids will be rejected.


The political wrangles surrounding Murang’a county government con-tinues to deepen after the deputy

governor Gakure Monyo claimed he is being intimidated.

Gakure said this after his office was demolished on the morning of Novem-ber 9, claiming that he is being victim-ized over allegations that he was among a group of politicians from the county who were behind governor Mwangi wa Iria’s impeachment bid.

During the county prayers day held on October 23, a few days after the assembly passed the impeachment motion, a sec-tion of MCAs who opposed the motion publicly accused the deputy governor of offering them money to support the impeachment, claiming they had audio recordings.

But the county secretary Patrick Mukuria through a press statement said the county government is re-organising its offices and that all Executive Officers had been relocated to where their core functions were located.

Mukuria further indicated that the deputy governor’s office is undergoing renovations and will become the cabinet office after completion, adding that Gak-ure had been allocated another office in the same building.

He said the move is meant to improve service delivery by bridging the gap be-tween the Executives and their depart-ments while making them easily accessi-ble to residents.

“The Lands Executive will be moving to the Lands Department building, the health Executive to the Health Depart-ment at the Murang’a Hospital, the Infra-structure Executive to the public works building and the same will apply to the other executives,” Mukuria said.

“The Deputy Governor’s Office will be relocated to the ground floor at the Coun-ty Headquarters building,” he added.

Mukuria added that even governor

Mwangi Wa Iria is currently unable to access his office as the renovations are happening next to it.

Gakure however dismissed the county secretary’s sentiments, questioning why they did not remove the red carpet before embarking on the renovations.

Gakure also wondered why he was not given a notice that his office would be reallocated and why they did not both-er to put aside his office’s furniture and equipment.

His official vehicle was later that day confiscated by the Government Vehicles Control Unit (GVCU) in a local hotel and taken to Nairobi.

Gakure had to beg the officers from GVCU to give him a ride to Nairobi as he did not have another vehicle to travel in.

According to sources in the county government, Gakure’s vehicle was im-pounded because it had a private num-ber plate yet it is a government vehicle.

The deputy governor and the governor have had a rocky relationship ever since they were elected but the recent fall out over the impeachment bid is the biggest of all.

Supporters of governor Mwangi wa

Iria has blamed his political woes on Ga-kure and Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau who is rumoured to be eyeing the guber-natorial seat in 2017.

Massive allegations of bribery in the county assembly have also come out, with both factions of MCA who sup-ported and opposed the impeachment motion accusing each other of recievin bribes.

Workers hired to renovate Gakure’s office resumed work a few hours after he stopped them from demolishing his office.

The workers also installed a metal grill at the main entrance of the executive wing of the county headquarters barring entrance into the governor and Gakure’s offices.

Gakure has not been seen is the office since the incident occurred as the issue spilled over to the county assembly.

Speaker Nduati Kariuki thwarted an attempt by Gitugi MCA Duncan Njuguna to have the matter of demolition of Gak-ure’s office discussed in the assembly.

Nduati said the MCA needed to pre-pare a substantive motion about the is-sue before the issue is discussed.

The governor and his deputy last appeared in a public forum together on Mashujaa day, the day before MCAs passed a motion to impeach Mwangi wa Iria.

Wa Iria had told residents that he would fight off the impeachment bid and continue implementing development projects.

But once the impeachment motion was passed, a wedge was put between them as allegations of Gakure’s involve-ment started spreading.

A section of the 34 MCAs who were spearheading the impeachment further worsened the situation by publicly claim-ing that they were ready to work with Ga-kure if the impeachment was supported by the senate.

Before becoming Mwangi wa Iria’s running mate in 2013, Gakure had at-tempted to vie for the Gatanga parlia-mentary seat but during nominations.

POLITICS4 DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR

ECONOMY & POLICY Political warangles in Murang’a deepen after deputy governor’s office is demolished



Murang’a Deputy Governor Gakure Monyo sits in his office full of rubbbles after it was brought down without notice.

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DEPuTY GOvERNOR’S OFFICE IDEMOlIShED

BY MACHEL WAIKENDA

Last month, six more locomo-tives that will be used to lay the rails for the country’s new

railway line arrived at the port of Mombasa. This has set the ball roll-ing for more and timely progress to be made in the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway which will improve our human and cargo transportation.

This is just but some of the prog-ress that the Jubilee administration is making in the country even as we continue being hard on President Uhuru Kenyatta. While we have a right to express ourselves, it is im-portant that we do this in the right context.

It is one thing to think that we can snap our fingers and see the country transform instantly and an-other to critically look at where we have been and the strides we have made. The latter helps us appreciate what the government has done and we can then give our input on what more we want to see.

We are hearing a lot of complaints about the state of the economy but most of this noise is just politically motivated and lacking in substance. Yes, as part of the global economy, we are facing a slowdown in eco-nomic growth but our economy has remained resilient and sound.

Indeed, the government has maintained economic growth about 5 percent – which is below target but good. Inflation in the coun-try has remained below 7 percent which is good given that we were 4 years ago at 19 percent.

Yes, a lot still needs to be done but we have to also objectively look at what has been done. An economy cannot grow without heavy invest-ment in infrastructure and gladly, from where I sit, the President has led the government well on this front.

The SGR is 55 percent done and it is now clear that it will extend further from Nairobi to Naivasha where there are plans to put up and Industrial Park. In addition, the new container terminal in Momba-sa will be ready by next year Febru-ary making the SGR project a com-plete package.

Anyone who has been to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport will agree that the upgrade of making it a modern hub is impressive. The Isi-olo Airport is also almost complete and will change the fortunes of the northern frontier when complete.

We are still building roads as we have seen with the commence-ment of an additional 10,000 KM tarmacked road construction this month. After more than 50 years of lip-service from the previous gov-ernments, the construction of the Mwatate to Taveta road has been kicked off by President Uhuru Ken-yatta’s government.

Energy is a key component of economic development and growth and the Jubilee administration has ensured that there is unending progress in this area. In 2013, we had 1,660 megawatts of power and the government has added 600 megawatts of clean energy and for

the first time we have a margin of reserve energy.

When Uhuru became President, the country has 2,200km of trans-mission lines and we have seen this grown to 2,900km. As a re-sult, 20,540 schools are connected to power as compared to 8,000 in 2013. The government expects to connect the remaining 1,150 schools by the end of this month.

In addition there were 2.3 million customers connected to power be-fore Jubilee and this has grown to 4.1 million in the last two years. This means that the Kenyans with access to power is now about 50 percent compared to 32 percent before 2013 with Jubilee targeting to put have place 75 percent of Kenya connect-ed to power by 2017.

As a way of enhancing service delivery, the government came up with the innovative and award-win-ning Huduma Centre concept. Since the Jubilee administration took over, it has built more than 40 Huduma Centres across the country and serving more than 5 millions of Kenyans who previously would have had to travel long distances to receive such service.

The government has also put in place measures to ensure that more women and youth are empowered economically. As a result, over 80,000 businesses been have reg-istered by Youth, Women and per-sons with disability since 2013. Over 30,000 of them have received busi-ness from Government in last year totalling over 30 billion shillings.

The government continues to invest in the education of its young generation. The budget for free pri-mary education was Sh8.96 billion in 2012/2013, and this has risen to Sh14.1b in the current financial year. Similarly, the budget for secondary school education was Sh19.2 billion in 2012/2013 rising to Sh32.5b this year.

Agriculture has not been left be-hind. In September we did the first harvest from the Galana irrigation scheme which is supposed to con-tribute to the country’s food secu-rity. Farmers in the maize, wheat, tea, coffee and sugarcane sectors are also getting subsidized fertilizer which in turn is increasing produc-tion.

We cannot forget that the Jubilee Administration has faithfully sup-ported the complementation of the Constitution by not only ensuring counties functions but also that all institutions are properly empow-ered to fulfil their mandate.

We have see 10 hospitals get new and modern equipment against the Jubilee target of 94, with a lot of progress made just months into the initiative. The number of dialysis machines in Kenya has grown from 40 to 245 distributed countrywide.

I am sure that I have missed on some of the achievements so far. But the point is that we can sit back and continue criticizing the govern-ment for political reasons or we can join hands with the government and build on this progress.

(The writer is a political and com-munications consultant)

Jubilee doing better than most critics can afford to admit


Members of Murang’a county assembly have voted to dissolve the Public Ac-counts and Investments Committee

over allegations of underperformance of its members.

This comes shortly after 15 members who voted against the impeachment motion of Gov-ernor Mwangi Wa Iria raised concerns that their 34 colleagues who supported the motion planned to victimize them by removing them from active committees.

The 12 member Public Accounts Committee was headed by Kahumbu MCA Eric Kamande who opposed the impeachment motion.

Township MCA Charles Karina who tabled the motion told the house that members of the committee were working in disharmony and failed to deliver on its mandate.

The motion further recommended that the Committee on Selection undertakes placement of new committee members within two weeks.

Karina said that Kamande is the one who had recommended the reconstitution of the committee over failure by members to observe secrecy while conducting investigations early last month.

According to him, Kamande had requested the Liaison Committee to consider strengthen-ing and changing the committee’s membership and increase the committee’s sittings from one to two times a week to clear backlog.

“The chairman had told the Liaison commit-tee that his committee needed committed and serious members who would not leak out its in-formation,” Karina added.

Finance and Economic Planning chairperson Joseph Kimani on his part commended Kaman-

de for acknowledging the shortcomings of his committee and recommending its reconstitu-tion.

Kimani said failure by the committee to effec-tively deliver on its mandate had led to impeach-ment of the governor as the committee had failed to hold him accountable over anomalies in the county accounts.

“We would not have gotten to the point of Impeaching Mwangi wa Iria had the committee done its work appropriately by tasking the gov-ernor on the usage of county resources,” Kimani added.

The MCA further recommended that the Committee on Selection should retain members who have proved to be active while doing away with the inactive members.

Nominated MCA Catherine Mugo said there have been numerous complaints by members of the public that house committees were not delivering and recommended disbandment of inactive committees.

“All committees whose members are not working together should also be dissolved and new members constituted if we are to deliver as a house,” she said.

However, speaking outside the assembly, Kamande said he had recommended for the reconstitution of the committee by the Liaison Committee instead of its dissolution.

Kamande said he had realized that some com-mittee members would get compromised and leak crucial information which made it hard for the committee to work.

He also noted the 15 MCAs may consider heading to court should they feel victimized in their current committees over their decision to support governor Wa Iria.

NEWSDECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR

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Murang’a MCAs disband the Public Investment Committee

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COUNTY BRIEFS6 DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR


Murang’a County Gov-ernment has started taking new steps

meant at increasing coffee pro-duction for the next five years.

Some of the approaches that the County Government of Mu-rang’a has rolled out include giving farmers free batian cof-fee trees. Batian is ten times more productive than the ordi-nary SL coffee trees in addition

to being resistant to coffee ber-ry diseases.

“Coffee farming is one of the main commercial agricultural activities accounting for an esti-mated 70,000 households. The volume of coffee production was on a decline trend for the last two decades and this called for a well thought of strate-gy to address the factors that brought fourth this decline,” said Governor Mwangi Wa Iria.

To this far Sh3 million batian

coffee trees have been given out and the first has already been picked for processing this year. The governor said this ap-proach is geared towards boost-ing the volume of production. The County Government has also employed agronomic prac-tices to increase production per tree.

“The coffee farmers union was restructured in order to roll out a proper management plan and get rid of scandalized engagements that would make farmers incur losses,” he said.

“To fetch farms inputs at reasonable rates, the County Government rolled out a collec-tive farm inputs purchase plan and as we speak we are offer-ing quality farmyard manure at subsidized prices to coffee farmers. This farmyard manure will address the ever escalating soil alkalinity which has consis-tently rendered the soil infer-tile,” said Wa Iria.

This farmyard manure is available in the coffee facto-ries and is being offered at a reasonable and subsidized price. In revitalizing extension services to farmers, the Coun-ty Government says it has em-ployed a coffee officer in every Sub-County tasked with cham-pioning coffee development and educating farmers.

The County Government has also provided each Coffee Coop-erative Society with an agricul-tural officer to offer necessarily expertise and ensure proper production oriented farming methods.

“On behalf of the farmers the Murang’a County Government is pursuing finance partner-ship to avail accessible, afford-able and timely credit services which is pertinent in address-ing resources constrains for a genre of farming that is on the route to revival. It’s worth noting that the County Govern-ment Comprehensive Coffee Development Project has seen the cherry production in the county increase from 14.7 mil-lion kg in 2011/12 to 24.1 kg in 2013/14.

The government has also pre-sided over the restructuring of the coffee farmers union owing to mismanagement that has perennially incurred losses to farmers.

This coffee improvement program is a proposed five-year project geared towards uplifting the status of coffee farming and turning into a ma-jor income earner via targeted interventions across the whole coffee value chain.

Wa Iria launches coffee revival projectFarmers lose out as coffee thieves return

County wins awards

BY MT. KENYA STAR REPORTERS

Coffee thieves have returned to haunt farmers in Murang’a in a develop-ment that will reduce earnings for the

next season.Police say thefts are inside jobs by officials

and workers, and also involve some millers.Coffee theft across central Kenya region

had reached its peak in 2011 when coffee worth Sh3.2 billion was lost.

Last year, Murang’a farmers are estimated to have lost Sh900 million from theft and this figure could increase this year if the cur-rent wave of theft continues.

Last month, several coffee factories in Murang’a were raided by thieves and coffee of unknown value stolen.

Gachirago factory in Kamacharia ward and Wanjengi coffee factory in Kahuro Sub County lost more than 60 bags of coffee. There was a failed attempt to steal more coffee from Wathenge coffee factory but the gang was unable to succeed because the closeness to the Murang’a- Kiriaini road which would have exposed the gang.

Murang’a East OCPD Johnstone Limo de-scribed theft as an “inside job” as the factory management had failed to implement secu-rity measures ordered by the county security committee.

“It seems the thieves had a lot of time to package the coffee. This only indicates they had some sort of support from officials or workers of the factory,” he said.

“Last year, managements of all coffee fac-tories were issued with directives on how to tighten security in their factories but it seems some management are becoming reluctant and that’s why coffee theft is re-emerging,” said the OCPD

A coffee theft intelligence report of 2012 by the Ministry of Internal Security and Provincial Administration showed that in central Kenya, farmers Sh3.2 billion in 2011.

The report had recommended that coffee factory managers must insure all the coffee stored in the factories to ensure that incase of theft, farmers are compensated.

The report had found that thefts were being coordinated by organised criminal networks involving farmers’ representa-tives, co-operative society officials, millers and well placed government public servants mandated to regulate the industry.

It recommended that coffee factories must invest in strong security measures particularly of the stores.

But it was not clear how many factories have adhered to the recommendations of the report, including taking insurance for the coffee and investing in modern security systems.

Governor Wa Iria.

The coffee farmers union was restructured in order to roll out a proper management plan and get rid of scandalized engagements that would make farmers incur losses.

BY MT. KENYA STAR

Murang’a County has won two awards during the 2015 Gov-ernors’ Award held last month

in the categories of Agriculture & Food Security and Education.

“I take this opportunity to thank the constituents of Murang’a and other stakeholders who have played a piv-otal role in steering agricultural de-velopment. This award demonstrates the improvements and strides that we have made as a County towards a rev-

olutionary commercial agriculture in various sectors such as dairy farming, horticulture and cash crop farming. In addition to generation of income the agricultural development program also entails boosting output for subsis-tence farming in order to enhance food security,” said Governor Wa Iria.

The award on education is attributed to the County Government’s approach of boosting education standards via initiatives such as establishment of low cost boarding schools, institution of an annual bursary kitty of Sh70 mil-lion and standard county government funded examination in primary and secondary schools.

Improvement of physical infrastruc-ture in learning institutions is also encompassed in this approach in ad-dition to mentorship and motivation programs.

“This award serves to boost the spirit entailed in this approach since it indi-

cates tangible gains have been rooted on it.

I dedicate these awards to the peo-ple of Murang’a for their resounding support to the County Government to-wards realization of the development agenda,” said the Governor.

Gov. Mwangi wa Iria leads other officials in celebrating the two awards.

BY KENYA NEWS AGENCY

Tea farmers want the gov-ernment to establish an independent tea direc-

torate to expand markets and formulate policies to boost the sector.

The farmers drawn from Mu-rang’a and Kiambu counties recommended that tea direc-torate be separated from Ag-ricultural, Fisheries and Food Authority (AFFA).

Presenting their views to a tea taskforce visiting tea zones in the area, the farmers said AFFA has not handled issues facing tea farmers effectively thus the need of an independent direc-torate.

The farmers who converged at KARI centre in Kandara Sub County on Wednesday also pro-posed that the term for KTDA directorship be extended from three to five years to minimize expenses incurred during elec-tion of the directors.

Two KTDA directors from Murang’a, Erastus Gakuya and Francis Macharia who accom-panied the farmers said Kenya should borrow a leaf from Indi-an and Sri Lankan governments that have established powerful tea directorate due to the im-portance of the sector.

Macharia said tea was an important sector of the coun-try’s economy as it generates 24 percent of the income from exports market.

He noted that the tea sector

policies are weak and should be revised. He said the directorate should come up with laws and policies to guide the transfor-mation of the sector.

Gakuya on his part called upon the AFFA not to license tea processors who do not own more than 100 hectares of green tea leaves.

He said there is need for clear polices to curb the culture of tea hawking that has impoverished many farmers.

Tea farmers want new directorate

I take this opportunity to thank the constituents of Murang’a and other stakeholders who have played a pivotal role in steering agricultural development. This award demonstrates the improvements and strides that we have made as a County.


Advocates Complaints’ Commission Chairperson Beauttah Siganga has asked Kenyans to demand for quality

services from the lawyers they engage to assist with their court cases.

Siganga who was speaking during a public forum to educate the public on the duties of the commission in Murang’a town said that thousands of unsuspecting Kenyans receive poor representation from their lawyers despite paying the required legal fees.

The chairperson said the commission has received a total of 19,000 complaints against advocates with 57 of them being struck off from the roll of advocates while 36 others have been suspended after being found guilty of mishan-dling their clients.

“This year alone we have received 744 com-plainants and 106 of them have been forward-ed to the disciplinary tribunal as we conduct investigations on the others,” Siganga said.

He said most relationships between advo-cates and their clients are hampered by lack of effective communication which she said esca-lates the number of complaints reported to the Commission.

Some advocates, she said, fail to inform their clients on the status of their cases while others swindle money awarded to their clients.

“It is the duty of lawyers to inform their cli-ents on how far their cases have gone and when they are expected to be concluded,” Siganga added.

He added that it is wrong for lawyers to use information previously given to them by clients while representing other clients in courts of law.

“Advocates are bound by their code of ethics to be loyal to their clients and avoid using any-thing that would prejudice positions of their former clients,” he said.

He however challenged members of the pub-lic to ensure they have sufficient evidence when presenting their complaints to the commission to make it to make it easy for the commission to make follow up.

He said the commission is now working with police detectives to help in investigating com-plaints raised by the public.

Siganga however noted that the commission has plans to establish offices at the counties to save members of the public from to Nairobi to lodge their complaints and to make theor ser-vices easily accessible.


Majority of Kihiu Mwiri land buying company members are yet to get their tittle

deeds a month after the process was launched by President Uhuru Kenyat-ta.

The members expected to receive their land documents on September 16 when the president visited the troubled com-pany.

Members were later directed to collect their documents at Murang’a lands office in Murang’a town starting from October 26.

They were however disappointed after the lands registrar Nancy Njenga failed

to release the title deeds to them due to enormous anomalies.

A list of 132 members who were to re-ceive the tittles in the first batch had been displayed at the Murang’a lands registry and Mitumbiri district office in Gatanga Sub County to inform members on the days they were to collect the documents.

Only 33 members out of 132 however received the titles as the others were re-verted back to titling centre at Survey of Kenya in Nairobi for correction.

Njenga who had a hectic time explain-ing to members who had camped outside her office why they could not receive their tittles also noted that a total of 400 titles that had been forwarded for issu-ance could not be given out until they are

sorted out.Njenga said 1,000 titles were expected

to be delivered this week to ensure the members get their documents.

“We are urging the members to remain calm as we sort out the land documents to ensure the information is correct and the green cards are opened as required by law,” she said.

Kakuzi Mitumbiri MCA James Kiarie with called upon the government to has-ten the process saying the Kihiu Mwiri company issue requires to be concluded urgently.

“Although the officials in the depart-ment of lands have been in constant communication with the shareholders on the titles issuance process, we urge

the government to solve the issues facing the tittles to remove the anxiety building among them,” said Kiarie.

11 directors of the troubled real estate company have been murdered due to leadership wrangles as members fought for control of 1,286 acres of land.

The leadership of the company which has over 6,000 members was split into two factions as members disagreed on the method of sub dividing the land, with one group calling for 100 by 100 feet par-cels while the other wanted the plots to measure 50 by 100 feet.

The row halted issuance of title deeds for years as the members could not agree on how to subdivide the land.

Kihiu Mwiri members yet to get tittles

advocates Complaints Commission Chairperson Beauttah Siganga addressing journalists in Murang’a town.

How El Nino may end up benefitting farmers

Kenyans asked to demand for quality services from lawyers



The county and national govern-ments have been urged to set aside more money to assist Ken-

yans in taking advantage of the el-nino rains.

Ahadi Kenya CEO Stanley Kamau has said both governments have put too much efforts in making sure victims of the El-nino rains are evacuated and compensated yet no money has been set aside to ensure Kenyans use the rains to their advantage.

Kamau has said that most Kenyans in the agricultural parts of the county will be forced to beg for relief foods once the rains are over and urged county gov-ernments to put in place measures to caution them from the drought that is expected to follow El-nino.

He said part of the money set aside by the governments should be used to supply farmers with seeds, fertilizers and other farm inputs in readiness for planting when the rains subsides.

He also noted that farmers should be taught to harvest water and be assisted to acquire water harvesting materials

like construction of water pans in their farms.

“If the El-nino rains are properly har-vested, the water can sustain farmers for seasons to come while cushioning them from hunger,” Kamau added.

Kamau also urged the government to come up with permanent solutions for

areas that are commonly affected by floods in the country.

He said it is not enough for the gov-ernment to keep evacuating people from the floods affected areas and that the government should device a way of ensuring the areas are safe for inhabi-tation.

Kamau said this at Mihuti ACK church while distributing free banana tubers to more than 100 farmers from Kangema and Mathioya sub counties.

He said the bananas will be able to weather the heavy rains and will repro-duce a few months after the rains are over.

“These farmers will be able to sustain their families and make extra income from the bananas even during the drought season,” said Kamau.

Gitugi MCA Duncan Njuguna who attended the event also asked Murang’a county government to move with haste and rehabilitate the infrastructure that has been destroyed by the rains.

Njuguna said the county assembly passed a motion that set aside Sh. 50 million for disaster management and that the money should be used to deal with the damages of the El-nino rains.

He said a classroom had been ren-dered unusable at Ruiru primary school in his area after its walls collapsed fol-lowing the heavy rains that have been raining.

ahadi Kenya Ceo Stanley Kamau distributing banana tubers to farmers at Mihuti in Mathioya sub county.


The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has entered into a partnership with KCB Group to

facilitate the development and imple-mentation of a platform that enables smallholder farmers across the East Af-rican region access credit, savings, insur-ance and training.

With a 15.5 million dollar (USD) grant from the MasterCard Foundation, AGRA is implementing a project called FISFAP (Financial Inclusion for Small-holder Farmers in Africa Project) where farmers in Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania will be getting access to improved finan-cial and non-financial services partially using digital channels to improve effi-ciency and reduce risk associated with financial transactions related to input purchase or output marketing. KCB is the first partner of FISFAP and benefits from a USD320,000 grant for technical assistance and training needed to devel-op the Mobigro platform.

In the partnership between AGRA and KCB, the farmers will access the ser-vices through a mobile based technology dubbed KCB Mobigro, a banking system

that enables them to access credit while deliberately linking them to other play-ers across the agricultural value chains from inputs to markets thereby boosting their creditworthiness.

The partnership will see KCB devel-op and implement value chain finance solutions where dairy and maize farm-ers will get access to services such as sav-ings, insurance and credit for input and storage of their produce using their mo-bile phones and existing relationships with buyers and agro dealers.

Within 3 years, KCB hopes to have reached 5 million farmers with savings, insurance or credit services to be deliv-ered through its proprietary agricultural ecosystem platform

‘’Financing continues to be one of the biggest hurdles to the realization of an African economic transforma-tion through agriculture. As AGRA, we are committed to playing our part in de-risking agriculture through innova-tive approaches like FISFAP”, said AGRA President, Dr. Agnes Kalibata during the signing ceremony in Nairobi.

“AGRA aims to catalyze a major shift in Africa’s agriculture through innova-tion-driven, sustainable productivity

increases and access to finance that improves the lives of smallholder farm-ers. With the support of the MasterCard Foundation and our partner KCB, our innovative financing model is unlocking millions of dollars’ worth of credit for smallholder farmers and small agricul-tural businesses previously considered too risky for lending, giving them un-precedented opportunities to invest in growth,” added Dr. Kalibata.

Through the program that starts in Kenya, KCB hopes to use its wide net-work to reach farmers across the region in a funding arrangement that will be arranged based on crop cycles with an insurance facility embodied in the KCB Mobigro platform.

Speaking during the signing of the agreement, KCB Chief Business Officer & MD Kenya Samuel Makome, said the deal is in line with the bank’s sustain-ability agenda focusing on financial inclusion, responsible lending and com-munity investment.

“The project will see the Bank con-tribute to economic growth by in-creasing the productive capacity of the economy as well as creating jobs in the marginalized areas. The roll-out of

an Enterprise Development Initiative dubbed “Mifugo Ni Mali,”which seeks to improve value chains for livestock farm-ers in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands is one of the initiatives under this stable. As we look forward towards rolling this proj-ect in the subsidiaries, we believe that a partner like AGRA will come in handy to give us the necessary impetus to make the programme even more impactful”, Makome said.

Mr. Makome added that the bank’s long term agenda is underpinned by the need to promote financial inclusion by offering appropriate and affordable products to the unbanked population which still has no access to mainstream form of banking.

KCB’s mobile banking proposition has so far registered close to 5 million customers. More than US$120 million has been disbursed in micro and mobile loans.

AGRA’s mission is to catalyse an agricultural transformation in Africa through innovation driven, sustainable productivity increases and access to fi-nance that improves the lives of small-holder farmers.

KCB to offer farmers loans in deal with AGRA

KIhIu MWIRI TITTlES

BY STEVE MBOGO

Participation of young Africans in ag-riculture enterprise has been a topic confined to seminars and work-

shops, but new evidence shows young people are getting into the food enterprise chain of farm-to-table, creating employ-ment opportunities and improving access to adequate food.

The youth is taking a stab at agriculture as a business, from farm to the dining ta-ble, picking up opportunities along the chain, providing evidence that agro-en-terprise is not only about farm labour that many educated youths detest.

The new interest in agriculture is set to end the challenge that has faced Africa’s

youth entry into the food business, often viewed as a dead-end career because of the believe that it must involve on-farm labour.

Young agro-entrepreneurs like Rita Kimani and Peris Bosire, two Kenyans in their 20s are re-defining this perception. The two founded FarmDrive, a business that uses data collected from small-scale commercial farmers to enable those farm-ers access financing, therefore addressing one of the biggest challenges facing small-scale farmers in Africa.

It is a challenge that even banks and microfinance institutions have failed to address because of they lack data on small-scale farmers that would enable them to make decisions on the type and quantity of loans to offer farmers.

Laetitia Mukungu, 20, started the Africa Rabbit Centre in Western Kenya. The proj-ect has now made hundreds of women to be financially stable by assisting them start rabbit rearing business and then buy back mature rabbits to sell to high-end hotels.

Mukungu has come in as a marketing link to the rabbit farmers, an innovation that has also helped address another big challenge that has faced small scale farm-ers; that of certainty of the market.

Others like Ernest Sebuba, 27, from Cen-tral Region of Uganda, a diploma graduate in telecommunications engineering chose to go the on-farm way. He earns his income exclusively from his farm, a two-acre por-tion that is under dairy and horticulture farming.

The four are among the pacesetters of African graduates who have chosen to venture into agribusiness, starting a slow but critical trend that may soon see agri-culture taking a top position as a generator of high-value employment opportunities for the youth.

The critical shift is that most of the young agro-entrepreneurs are not involved in on-farm activities but as are utilising the value chain of food growing and consump-tion process to offer critical services that

have benefits on both ends; encouraging more food production and ensuring retail food markets are adequately supplied.

Innovators like Rita and Peris of Farm Drive may not need to visit a farm, but thanks to a mobile enabled innovation, their company is able to serve thousands of small-scale farmers in Africa and provide them with the much need bits of financ-ing to buy certified seeds and other farm inputs.

The bigger message coming from the new trend of youth engagement in agricul-ture is that participation in agro-enterprise is not just about on-farm activities; there are more job opportunities that are found on the value chain.

For instance, where farming is orga-nized, there are opportunities to provide transport services, cooling and refrigera-tion services, trading services, financing services, warehousing services, grading services, marking services, packaging ser-vices, processing services, packaging ser-vices, and the list is as long as one is keen enough to find an entry point.

an easy solution to credit for small-scale farmers

In the case of FarmDrive, the two young innovators are already earning some in-come from their innovation. But even much more is that the project presents an enormous future potential for farmers and themselves as it is scaled up.

“We have pioneered an innovative way to use data that is generated in smallholder farmers’ value chains to facilitate their ac-cess to credit,” said Rita Kimani.

“We use data analytics and mobile tech-nology to aggregate and analyze important information about smallholder farmers from various points of view including farmers themselves, produce buyers, and agro-dealers. We then build a credit profile used for real-time credit assessment for a

particular farmer or a farming group,” she said.

In a nutshell, FarmDrive’s solution en-ables farmers to access a range of afford-able financial services from partnering financial institutions through their mobile phones when they need it.

“Many other businesses can access loans from banks based on their records but not small-scale farmers who do not have a credit history. This is what we are changing now,” said Rita.

She said based on her experience in dealing with farmers through FarmDrive, “some farmers only need very little amount of money if they get better seeds and farm inputs.”

This may explain why the two principal partners of FarmDrive are FarmShop, a social enterprise chain of agro-dealers fo-cused on serving small-scale farmers, and Musoni, a paperless micro-credit institu-tion that transacts exclusively on mobile.

Users of FarmDrive record their activi-ties using SMS, or a mobile app if they have a smart phone. To take care of the techno-logically challenged farmers, the company has also developed a workbook that farm-ers can fill in and hand to the agent that signed them up, who will then store the data digitally.

FarmDrive charges financiers a US$1 fee for every farmer profile they access, while farmers pay a transaction fee of 3% of the total loan they receive via the company.

early timers show positive results

There is already growing evidence that youth participation in agriculture is bene-fiting millions of small-scale farmers. With time, these agro-enterprises are expected to grow and offer even bigger opportuni-ties not only to their owners and employ-ees and also the farmers.


The ACK Diocese of Murang’a will be headed by an interim bishop until the disputed elec-

tions for a new bishop are concluded.Archbishop Eliud Wabukala has ap-

pointed the diocese assistant Bishop Allan Waithaka to head the Mt. Kenya Central diocese following the retirement of Bishop Isaac Ng’ang’a who has been in leadership for 10 years before retiring on October 31.

Waithaka has served in the position of assistant bishop in the diocese since 2005 after he clinched the second posi-tion during elections in which Bishop Ng’ang’a emerged the winner and be-came the head of the diocese.

He is expected to oversee the operations and management of the diocese affairs until the elections which commenced on August but stalled due to allegations of massive irregularities are conducted.

The archbishop who visited the diocese headquarters in Murang’a town urged church members to observe unity despite the results of the elections and respect their new leaders.

The elections were stopped indefinitely after some members of the church and contestants wrote to the archbishop ask-ing for his intervention before the process is concluded.

A total of 11 contenders contested for the top seat but were shortlisted to three after being vetted by an interview panel that was made up of 11 members, 6 from the diocese and 5 from the archbishop’s office.

The three finalists are Wilson Burugu, the education secretary, arch deacon Tim-othy Gichere and venerable John Karum-wa.

However, some of the contestants and clergy claimed raised doubts about the electoral process, and asked the arch-bishop to nullify them and call for fresh

elections.In a letter dated August 11, the contes-

tants claimed that the process was biased against some of the candidates and that the shortlisted names did not reflect the true score of all contestants who were in-terviewed.

“Dr. Humphrey Muraguri was told that at the age of 58, he was too old and need-ed to retire while reverend Peter Karanja was told he was too young at the age of

45,” the letter read in part.The letter said proceeding with the

three shortlisted candidates would erode the church’s mandate to lead in transpar-ency and justice as age has never been used as a criteria for elimination.

It is after the allegations that church of-ficials resolved to place the diocese under a commissary until the flawed elections process is corrected.


Anglican Bishop Eliud Wabukala commissioning Arahuka Building constructed by the ACK Church in Murang’a town on March this year.

Laetitia Mukungu, Founder of Africa Rabbit Centre.

Election dispute rock ACK Murang’a Diocese

East African youths finally make an attempt on agriculture

Archbishop Eliud Wabukala has appointed the diocese assistant Bishop Allan Waithaka to head the Mt. Kenya Central diocese following the retirement of Bishop Isaac Ng’ang’a who has been in leadership for 10 years before retiring on October 31.

I was brought up in a village in Western Kenya and when I realized the power of rabbits to end poverty especially among the women, I developed my idea further.

CONTINUED ON BACK PAGE >>

ACK ElECTION DISPuTE


A 20-year-old man is mak-ing a fortune by rearing guinea fowls in Kange-

ma sub county, Murang’a Coun-ty.

Alvin Michuki, a second year student at the Technical Univer-sity of Kenya who hails from Gi-tugu village is now able to pay for his school fees and upkeep in school from his guinea fowl

business.The student says he was

walking around his parents’ farm when he discovered some eggs that had been laid in a thicket three years ago.

Michuki said without know-ing what animal the eggs belonged to, he used his par-ents’ chicken to hatch them and guinea fowl chicks were hatched.

Amused by what he saw, he decided to give a try to rearing the game birds as a hobby with-

out knowing that they could fetch him money.

With time, he bred the birds increasing them to over 50 but was unaware that he was re-quired to acquire a license from the Kenya Wildlife Service.

After hearing about his ven-ture, KWS officials visited the young man at his home asking him to register as a guinea fowl farmer so as to continue with his business.

According to Michuki, the guinea fowl business is more re-warding as compared to rearing other livestock animals.

The birds, he says, mature very first and start laying eggs at the age of two and half months which he said makes them breed very fast.

He uses chicken to hatch the eggs saying the wild nature of the birds means they do not sit on them but that he then raises the chicks separately.

He said one challenge facing the business is that the chicks are affected by cold seasons as the birds do not nurture their young ones.

Michuki however noted that the guinea fowls demand for little attention and care unlike poultry as they are largely dis-ease free.

He adds that the birds also do not require a special diet and feeds them with green vegeta-tion and supplements.

He said he sells the birds at prices ranging from Sh3, 500 to Sh7, 500 depending on age and

size.“I sell the eggs at Sh100 per

piece mostly to prestigious ho-tels in Nairobi,” Michuki said.

He says this is triple the in-come he makes from the chick-en which are reduced by the high cost of feeds.

He said the sales are enough

to sustain him in schools unlike many of his peers who depend on their guardians for financial support.

The youngster also said un-like the past when people could not understand why he was raising the game birds, some a larger group of people is now expressing interest in the wild bird and keeping them for or-namental purposes and con-sumption.

He sells his birds mostly to KWS and hotels which serve their meat as a delicacy.

“KWS buys the birds to in-crease their numbers in game reserves when they reduce during droughts,” he said.

He said his future plan is to expand his business to venture into the international market after completing his education.

He encouraged young people to embark on such farming say-ing it can enable them to lead decent lives.

“One is only required to get a license from the KWS and a small space to keep the birds,” he says.


Abandoned eggs mint thousands for a 20-year-old


Murang’a and Kiambu county governments will set up sepa-rate teams to investigate and

help end a boundary row that has been brewing over months.

The two governments decided to form the teams after officials from both sides met on DECEMBER 2 following tension at the Blue post matatu terminus after a team of officials from Murang’a county government decided to take charge and collect revenue.

The terminus has been under the control of Murang’a County government until mid October when officials from Kiambu County government ejected their colleagues from Murang’a and started col-lecting revenue.

This is the second incident this year as on July this year, officials from Kiambu county government invaded the terminus and roughed up an official from Murang’a county government who was collecting revenue.

The Kiambu officials grabbed receipt books from their Murang’a counterpart and stole an unknown amount of mon-ey before uprooting a revenue collection booth.

According to Gatanga Sub County Ad-ministrator George Murimi, the revenue collector was admitted at Thika general hospital and later reported the issue at Ndururumo Police Station.

Police officers were forced to intervene after the two team clashed at the termi-nus that is situated between Chania and Thika rivers.

Murimi reiterated that the matatu ter-minus is situated in Murang’a county but expressed optimism that the two teams will be able to work together and resolve

the row between Gatanga and Thika sub counties.

“Our revenue clerks have been work-ing in fear of being invaded at their work stations by people who claim to have been sent by Kiambu county government who do not even carry identification badges,” Murimi said.

Murimi said should the teams fail to end the row, Murang’a county govern-ment will call upon Independent Elector-al Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and Transition Authority (TA) to determine where the boundary lies.

Gatanga business community chairper-son Simon Jogoo on his part asked gover-nors Mwangi wa Iria and William Kabogo to find a way of resolving the boundary conflict saying it is negatively affecting businesses in the area.

“We have seen people being ferried in vehicles without number plates to vandal-ise revenue collection booths belonging to Murang’a county government and now traders are living in fear of losing their businesses,” said Jogoo.

Jogoo said many matatu operators had sought an alternative terminus to avoid being caught between revenue clerks from the two counties.

Murang’a, Kiambu in border conflict

Gatang’a Sub County administrator George Murimi addressing journalists at the Blue Post matatu terminus.

Governor Wa Iria. Governor Kabogo.

BORDER DISPuTEDEvElOPMENT


A teacher’s sacco, Mentor, has em-barked on a multi-million project to construct a 9-storey ultra-mod-

ern building in Murang’a town.According the firm’s CEO Alex Irungu,

the building will be worth Sh50 million and is expected to be a major boost to the firm’s asset base that is estimated to be worth Sh3.3 billion.

Irungu has said the building that is in the heart of Murang’a town will host the Sacco’s headquarters while the rest of the offices will be rented to other business people.

He said the project is being funded through contributions of individual mem-bers who buy shares to finance it.

“During an AGM, members resolved to buy shares at Sh200 to fund the proj-ect and individuals are allowed to buy as many shares as they can,” he said.

Speaking to The Star in his office in Murang’a town on Saturday, Irungu also noted that the building will be the first one in the town to have an elevator.

He said the sacco which has six branch-

es in Murang’a Kenol, Nairobi, Kiria-ini, Kangari and Ithanga is on a mission to position itself as one of the best saccos in the country.

The CEO said the firm bagged an award for the highest interest rates on dividends and deposits for the year 2014-2015 awards organized by the Co-opera-tives Association of Kenya.

He also noted that the firm offers some of the cheapest loans saying their interest is only 6 percent per annum on reducing balance.

“We are also the only sacco that has a

phone app that allows members to mon-itor their accounts through their mobile phones and even buy airtime for all tele-communications firms,” he added.

Irungu however noted that the recently concluded teachers’ strike negatively af-fected the sacco, as it did not receive their September salaries from the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC).

He said the sacco which was formed in 1977 by teachers to promote their eco-nomic interests has however embarked on a programme to register non-teachers.

“About 20 percent of our 15,000 mem-bers are non-teachers which cushioned the sacco from incurring heavy losses during the strike,” Irungu said.

The sacco, he said, has also entered into a partnership with Murang’a Coun-ty Creameries to provide cheap loans for purchase of high quality dairy cows.

He said dairy farmers get loans with in-terest rates of 1 percent on reducing bal-ance and an insurance cover of 4 percent which is the cheapest in the market and that more than 400 farmers have so far been financed.

Mentor Sacco to construct a 9 storey building

Mentor Sacco offices.

The building will be worth Sh50 million and is expected to be a major boost to the firm’s asset base that is estimated to be worth Sh3.3 billion.

alvin Michuki selling guinea fowl eggs.

The management and staff of Mt. Kenya Star PUBlISherS would like to thank our readers, advertisers and supporters for your continued support. We take this opportunity to wish you the best of Merry

Christmas and a Prosperous 2017. Stay blessed.

ADVERTISEMENT10 MT KENYA STARDECEMBER 2015

MURATA SACCO LTD-Head Office I P.O Box 816-10200, MURANG’A I Tel; (060) 2030253/4 Help lines: 0718079339/0732585916 I Website; www.muratasacco.co.ke I Email: [email protected]

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BRANCH NETWORK

Murang’a, Thika, Kiriaini, Maragua, Kangema, Kandara, Kahuhia, Kahuro, Kirwara, Kigumo, Kahatia, Saba saba, Kagunduini, Gitugi, Kangari, Kenol and Nairobi.

OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Through our Asset Finance product, we continue to support our members’ dreams to become reality.

Supporting Dairy Farming through partnership with Murang’a County Creameries.

Launched the Cheque Book.

We started Kilimo Bora Programme. This programme now supports horticultural, dairy, poultry farmers and bee keepers by financing their acquisition of farm inputs, machinery and chemicals. We also help them source for markets.

We started Members Training Workshops.

Thika Branch re-branding ceremony.

We re-branded of Thika Branch

We launched our customer service theme “MY CUSTOMER MY GUEST”. The purpose is to give our members unparalleled services.

We opened Kenol Branch at Arahuka Building ground floor along Murang’a Road.



A group of 80 recovered alcoholics from Murang’a South Sub Coun-ty have ventured into farming as

a way of empowering themselves finan-cially.

The youths who abandoned their drinking following the country wide crackdown on illicit and second genera-tion liquor embarked on agriculture after a well-wisher and local business man An-thony Chege facilitated their counseling and home based rehabilitation.

Chege then helped the youths to form a group dubbed Kadea Youth group, the young men through which they started engaging in small scale farming.

The youths have sub divided them-selves into smaller groups for better su-pervision amongst themselves.

“We have been farming tomatoes, spin-ach, kales and other fast growing horti-cultural crops which we sell in the local markets and we have been able to im-

prove our lives,” said Alexander Kimani, one of the youths.

Kimani said getting over alcoholism after so many years of over-indulgence was difficult but added that the transfor-mation in his life has given him hope of reviving his dreams.

Engaging in farming, he said has kept them busy and denied them time to be idle, reducing the risk of relapsing back into alcoholism.

“With our new found strength, we have been able to restructure our lives and are planning to secure loans and purchase motor bikes with the profits we make,” he added.

Kimani urged his fellow youth to shelve alcoholism and rebuild their lives by en-gaging in meaningful economic activities.

He noted most of the members who had abandoned their families have been able to reconcile with them and are now living normal lives.

He appealed to the society to embrace those who are recovering from alcohol-ism and help them lead better lives.

“Most of us were rejects in the society

but am urging the community to accept us as and help us to transform to better members of the society,” he remarked.

On his part Chege said his main objec-tive of consolidating the youths was to fight alcoholism and idleness by assisting them to engage in income generating ac-tivities.

Chege expressed his delight with the projects in which the former addicts have embarked on, saying that this is part of his objectives to see them sober and em-powered.

He however noted that the youth have a challenge in obtaining capital to ven-ture into small businesses and called upon other well-wishers to support such noble courses.

Chege said there are plans to duplicate the project in other parts of Murang’a County to cater for the other recovering youths.

Recovered alcoholics venture in farming

Members of the Kadea youth Group harvesting kales at their farm at Kaharati in Murang’a south sub county with their founder anthony Chege(Second left).

Most of us were rejects in the society but am urging the community to accept us as and help us to transform to better members of the society.”


The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) will establish peace

clubs in learning institutions in a bid to stem the involvement of youths in violence, the com-mission’s Vice Chairperson Irene Wanyoike has said.

Wanyoike has said in collabora-tion with the Ministry of Educa-tion, NCIC has formulated a policy that will guide the establishment of the peace clubs in primary and secondary schools and institutions of higher learning.

The vice chairperson said the clubs will be dubbed ‘Amani’ and will be aimed at ensuring young people appreciate the diversity of Kenyans and learn to accommo-date others from different ethnic, racial and religious groups.

She also noted that the clubs will also be used to educate the youths on dispute resolution and help them to establish peer me-diation structures and peace edu-cation activities in schools as the general elections draw near.

“Politicians have for a long time taken advantage of the youths

to perpetrate violence especially during elections and the only way to shield them is to equip them with peace keeping skills from an early age,” Wanyoike said.

Speaking in Murang’a town on Monday in a forum held to sensi-tise head teachers and school prin-cipals about the peace clubs, Wan-yoike added that it is vital for the government to put more efforts in reuniting Kenyans from different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

According to her, laying of ef-fective and long term strategies targeting the young people will go a long way in promoting cohesion among Kenyans.

“The Amani clubs are expected to promote harmony and peace-ful co-existence amongst students and their neighbouring communi-

ties,” she noted.She said the structures of the

clubs will help guide character for-mation in the young people and equip them with skills of dealing with violent situations peacefully.

The club members, she said, will then be expected to impact their skills and knowledge to other youths and elder members of their communities.

Wanyoike also pleaded with pol-iticians to desist from divide Ken-yans along tribal lines in a bid to achieve their selfish interests.

“We want to ensure that Ken-yans and especially the youths are able to resist engaging in violence on behalf of some leaders to avoid a recurrence of post elections vio-lence like the one that occurred in 2008,” said Wanyoike.

Peace Clubs to be started in schools County Assembly approves Sh3b supplementary budget


Murang’a County As-sembly on Wednes-day approved a Shs.

3 billion Supplementary Bud-get that is deemed to unlock implementation of stalled de-velopment projects across the county.

The budget, which members of the Assembly described as development focused, has been equally distributed across the electoral wards.

While tabling the report be-fore the house, the Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman, Peter Mweri, urged the County Executive to adhere to the budget principals in im-plementation.

“The Committee has worked tirelessly to ensure that the Sup-plementary Budget complies with the recommendations

from the Office of the Controller of Budge,” Maina noted.

MCAs in support of the bud-get described it as one that will help the community and ensure that development projects go on undisrupted.

The Ward Development Fund of Shs. 600 million that has been a bone of contention between the County Assembly and the County Executive has been scrapped and the monies distributed to respective depart-ments as per the needs and pri-orities of specific wards.

Each of the 35 wards was al-located Shs.10 million to fast track water development pro-grammes and Shs. 17 million for other development projects.

Development Expenditure gets 48.7 percent of the budget while 51.3 percent will cater for Recurrent Budget.

The biggest beneficiary in the budget is the Department of En-

ergy, Transport and Infrastruc-ture, which got an increase of Shs. 510 million up from Shs.215 million.

County Bursary and Scholar-ship Programme was allocated Shs. 140 million up from Shs. 72 million that was allocated in the approved budget of 2015/2016 Financial Year.

With the approval of the sup-plementary budget, the overall county budget now goes up from Shs.6.65 billion to Shs.6.91 billion.

The passing of the budget may bring to an end protracted wars between the County As-sembly and the Executive over budget allocations and financial expenditure that last month cul-minated in the County Assem-bly passing a motion to impeach Governor, Mwangi Wa Iria.

His impeachment did not, however, go through when it was presented to the Senate.

FROM ThE BOTTlE TO ThE FARM

BY BOB KOIGI

A farmer group in Kandara area of Murang’a County is earning a fortune from the sale of straw-

berries and their leaves with both local and international markets expressing in-satiable appetite.

Mbari ya Mboche Self Help Farmer Group consists of over 60 members who have been united under a common quest for good farming practices. With help from the Kenya Agricultural and Live-stock Research Organization KALRO, the farmer group has reaped the bene-fits of horticultural farming after dump-ing coffee and maize following years of dwindling yields and thinned incomes.

It is however the strawberry farming that catches the eyes of any visitor with half of the farmers in the group embrac-ing it for its fast and lucrative returns. Markets have opened up to the straw-berries which go for up to Sh. 200 a kilo locally and Sh350 at the export market.

A growing demand for the strawber-ry leaves, which were traditionally dis-carded after harvest, has inspired more farmers into the strawberry farming with some earning more from the leaves than the fruit. The leaves are preferred by decorating and florist firms in the country and in the export markets due to their unique shape and smell. They are used to blend bouquets. Farmers tie the leaves into bundles of 100 branches with a branch of the plant costing one shil-ling. In a week farmers get orders of up to 30,000 such bundles. Overwhelmed by this demand, the farmers have decid-ed to go the group marketing way.

So lucrative is the market that some of the farmers in the group are doing away with the fruit or any other form of fresh produce farming to concentrate on tending to the leaves and selling them, as they require little effort to grow. Ezekiel Mwaura, now in his early thirties is one such farmer. Mwaura turned to farming as a source of solace and income after his family failed to his school fees. But a short stint with farming traditional

crops would disappoint following sys-temic low yields and market vagaries. Then strawberries came calling. “I have never looked back. I had started regret-ting why I started practicing agriculture until I was introduced to strawberries and their leaves. From earning a pal-try Sh5,000 after the harvest of maize, I now earn Sh25,000 after two months from the sale of strawberry leaves not forgetting how much more I earn from the fruit itself with demand growing fast,” said Mwaura who is among the frontrunners in the strawberry leaves farming.

Mercy Mutoro another farmer has replaced her coffee bushes with rows of neatly arranged strawberries in her one acre piece of land. She has comfortably blended the strawberries with avocado trees which provide shade for the tender and sensitive crop. She has perfected the art of crop management including using low cost pest control methods like spraying ash to keep voracious pests out of the strawberry leaves. On average she sells 20,000 leaves a month through al-ternating the production stages of the

strawberries. So successful is her venture that her farm is used by other farmers as a model farm and training ground. She has also attracted hundreds of vis-itors who flock to her farm to borrow best practices. “It may sound rosy but I take my time to tend to the strawberries right from planting. I keep a keen eye because I know this is the only way I can get maximum benefits. I look forward to expanding,” she said.

There has been a pent up demand for flowers which has shifted from tradition-al customers among them offices, events and churches to homes, with customers dictating trends. Sparkle Ray Florists in Ngong who first experimented with the idea of using strawberry leaves after see-ing the model in an international flow-er exhibition in Netherlands decided to try it locally. “Since we trialed with the strawberry leaves customers are only de-manding bouquets that have the leaves because they are blend so well giving that unique beauty. We have had to pes-ter Mbari ya Mboche Farmer Group to increase their production as demand is so high,” said Ms. Kimberly Kongoi the founder of Sparkle Ray Florists. Other florists have followed suit.

The high demand which is shared by exporters is now seeing florists en-tice farmers with more offers. “At the moment we are contemplating offering these farmers an extra two shillings per branch to woo them to produce more be-cause we are receiving a lot of requests from the international market,” said Vic-tor Wekesha from Freshlink Co, a com-pany that exports fresh produce from Kenya to the EU.

Kandara farmers now exporting strawberry leaves

Mbari ya Mboche farmers in one of the trainings. KSh 350

Markets have opened up to the strawberries which go for up to Sh. 200 a kilo locally and Sh350 at the export market.


Take the case of Shambani Grad-uates Enterprise, a Tanzania-based company that was started by three graduates from the Sokoine University of Agriculture in 2003.

By then, the company had the capac-ity to process only 30 litres of milk per day, fast forward in 2014; the company had the processing capacity of 4,000 li-tres per day and is diversifying to add-ing value to the goat milk.

Abrhame Endrias Butta, 29, from Ethiopia, owns the Green Agro Mech-anization, a firm that offers rental ser-vices for modern agricultural machin-ery, equipment and tools, including equipment for ploughing, harrowing, row seeding, harvesting, processing and transporting. He has 13 full-time and temporary employees. He is also a lecturer at the Arsi University in Ethi-opia.

Pascal Furaha, 35, from Rwanda, is the owner of PEBEC Ltd, a chili busi-ness that he established in 2012 with an aim of employing more than 5,000 farmers grouped in co-operatives and generates foreign currency for the country as an export project. PEBEC Ltd is already selling chili in global markets, specifically in Spain and In-dia.

rabbits for women, and now children in Western Kenya

Laetitia Mukungu Africa Rabbit Centre knew very well that rabbit meat was not a favoured delicacy in most of Kenya, but that did not stop her from pursuing her hobby to rear rabbits. Then she realized the potential of the small animals in their ability to multiply fast; a rabbit has a gestation

period of 30 days and, therefore, one rabbit can give birth to 42 bunnies in one year. This means the opportunity for income is higher.

“I was brought up in a village in Western Kenya and when I realized the power of rabbits to end poverty especially among the women, I devel-oped my idea further,” said Mukungu.

The idea is simple but with high impact. Villagers, mostly women are trained in rabbit husbandry for about 30 days. Then the company supports them to acquire rabbits to start the business. When mature, Africa Rab-bit Centre buys the rabbits from those farmers as sells them to selected restaurants across Kenya.

“It is the small things we do very well that will end poverty in Africa,” she said.

From this venture, Mukungu has

transformed the lives of many women in Western Kenya and used part of the proceeds from the business to start a community school in Sophia informal settlement area of Butere Town which now admits 400 pupils in just two years since the school started. She has also employed 30 people on a perma-nent basis.

“We have improved food security

situation in the areas we operate in. Women, for instance, are able to use the money from the sale of rabbits to buy genuine seeds and use rabbit manure to improve their yields,” said Mukungu when she addressed other agro-entrepreneurs at the Young Afri-ca Works Summit that was organized by the MasterCard Foundation in Cape Town earlier this month.

East African youths finally make an attempt on agriculture

rita Kimani, Co-Founder and Ceo of Farmdrive.

<< CONTINUED FROM PG 8

For the Good oF MUranG’a PeoPle0 7 9 2 3 8 2 3 4 9 2 1 0 >

19

EMBU | DECEMBER, 2015 ISSUE 016 www.mtkenyastar.com PRICE: KSh30

For the Good oF eMBU PeoPle

IN OTHER PAGES

the embu county government is in the process of building a sh240 million cancer centre in its efforts to fight the disease.

County to build Cancer Centre

STORY ON PAGE 9 >>

Sicily Kanini KariukiWhat her rise means for Embu

CAREER BIO DATA

2015: Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender

2013: Principal Secretary, State Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries

2005: Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Tea Board of Kenya (TBK)

2000: Chief Executive Officer of Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK).

1998: Export Manager of Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK).

early 1990s: Kenya Investment Authority (KENINVEST)

EDUCATION•MastersofBusiness

Administration, Strategic management ESAMI/ Maastricht School of Management (Tanzania/Netherlands).

•PostGraduatequalificationsin Food Laws and Regulations from Michigan State University.

•BachelorofCommercedegreeNairobi University.

PUBLISHERS


Sicily Kanini Kariuki is cred-ited as one of the people who helped transform the

tea sector to become a top for-eign exchange earner for Kenya, which at its peak in 2012 earned the country Ksh130 billion.

Today, she is arguably the most senior official in the Jubilee government from Embu. Last

month, President Uhuru Kenyatta nominated her to become the Cabinet Secre-tary (Minister) for the new Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender.Her new position is power-

ful enough even among her cabinet colleagues consider-ing the enormous responsi-bility the ministry has been taxed with.

Her new ministry was created from that of Devolu-tion and Planning that was headed by Ann Waiguru from Kirinyaga County.

Sicily, as she is often re-ferred to in her first name, comes from Manyatta con-stituency near Kangaru. Her

home constituency borders Gichugu constituency where

Waiguru hailed from. But that is not seen as a con-

sideration for the decision by President Uhuru to select Sicily, whose has had an illustrious career progression in the public and private sector. This means she merited the appointment on her own capabilities and not on the basis of regional balancing.

Celebrations about her ap-pointment in Embu County were muted. Some powerful politicians from Embu say she is “not their own”, a crude Kenyan political slang, because she is married outside Embu County. Some Embu politicians say if in-deed the president wanted to re-ward the county, he should have appointed a person who resides there.

Only Mbeere North MP Charles Njagagua went on record to thank you the president for the appointment. “The gesture shows the President appreciates the support the people of Embu have always given him,” he said.

It was an irony for Embu lead-ers to brush-off the appointment when residents of Runyenjes for instance have elected Cecily Mbarire as their member of par-liament, yet she is also married outside Embu County.

Yet in another irony, senior leaders in Kirinyaga who would have been expected complain over failure to replace Waiguru with a person from the county welcomed Sicily’s appointment, saying the responsibility of ap-pointment is the prerogative of the president.

links to Kenyatta Family

Sicily is not new to working with President Uhuru and the larger Kenyatta family. Prior to her se-lection as the Principal Secretary, State Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Live-stock and Fisheries, she served as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Commercial Bank of

Africa Limited, since October 1, 2012.

The Kenyatta family has sub-stantial ownership interests in the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and controls several board positions in the bank.

The family is directly repre-sented in the board level in the bank by Muhoho Kenyatta, Pres-ident Uhuru’s younger brother. Muhoho is a businessman and director of several companies including Brookside Dairy Ltd, Heritage Holdings Ltd, and Tim-sales Holding Ltd.

Influence in embu

The family of Sicily in Embu may not rise to political limelight previously but it will certainly do this in the run-up to the 2017 elections.

Although Sicily is a civil ser-vant, the coming period of heavy politicking will likely thrust her and her colleagues in the Cabinet to play some political role in sup-port of President Uhuru.

At the county politics level, the family will be represented by Sicily’s brother, Justus Kinyua Mugo, the owner of the new ho-tel in Embu known as Mountain Breeze Hotel located at Gakwe-gori area.

Mugo has already announced that he will run for the Manyat-ta parliamentary seat currently held by John Muchiri Nyaga.

At a luncheon held at his hotel recently, where he made the an-nouncement, he said he will be patient enough to wait until the next general elections.

“I decided to invest my money

in this hotel right here in Embu County because I have confi-dence in our county,” said Mugo.

“I am not a stranger to politics because all along I have been in very challenging and competitive positions in the cooperative and trade union movement,” he said.

He told Manyatta residents to elect leaders who are widely ex-posed locally and internationally, like he is, so that he uses skills learned from around the world to implement best development practices at the local level.

Sicily’s new Powerbase

The new Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender is one of the most influential in the gov-ernment and therefore makes Sicily one of the most influential ministers in the current govern-ment.

With a woman Cabinet Secre-tary and two women Principal Secretaries, it could also create the most powerful women in government.

The ministry has nine Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies that were previously under the Ministry of Devolution and Planning.

Her ministry is tasked with im-plementing the manifesto of Ju-bilee Alliance on matters of youth and women’s empowerment. She will be in control of Uwezo Fund, the Youth Enterprise Develop-ment Fund, the Women’s Enter-prise Fund, the National Youth Service, Huduma Centre, the Public Service Commission and the Kenya School of Government among others.

Career & academic record

Before her appointment as the Cabinet Secretary, Sicily served as the Principal Secretary, State Department of Agriculture, Min-istry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. Prior to that, she was the CEO of Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) for a period of eight years.

During her tenure at TBK, Sic-ily led the tea industry to become Kenya’s top foreign exchange earner, bringing in over Ksh130 billion in foreign exchange earn-ings in 2012. She had been the CEO of Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK). Prior to that, she worked for Ken-ya Investment Authority (KEN-INVEST). Sicily studied market-ing at the University of Nairobi and has a Master of Business Ad-ministration with specialization in management and marketing and Post Graduate qualifications in International Food Laws and Leadership.

NEWS2 DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR

Sicily Kanini KariukiWhat her rise means for Embu

OVERWEIGHT WE HAVE THE ANSWER

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IT IS THE order of the day to see the working class rush to gyms every evening after work or weekends to arrest that run-away weight.The sad thing however is that rarely do people get that ideal weight as soon as desired or in some cases, the ‘body completely refuses’ to respond making them give up.

The herbal concortion is made from roots and leaves used by the nomadic communities to survive the vagaries of weather especially droughts. The roots keeping them from starving until fair weather resumes.

Slimpack is a product of extensive collaborative research by our experts in the laboratories who have for the last one year been embedded with major nomadic communities is the East African region such as Samburu, Borana, Rendile, Karamojong and the Maasai to learn the ropes and master what has been passed down to them from previous generations.

These are communities that value crops such as Cactus to beat the harsh weather and they are among those whose social fabric remain intact even with the serious onslaught brought about by modernity.Available in powdery form, the herb is taken as tea each time one gets the urge to eat with impressive outcome.The blending is such that minimum basic nutrients are infused in it for human survival so you can take it without the fear of starving.

The principal is such that natural components hasten the breakdown of fats and other fatty elements in the body.The fats are broken down to give the body energy it needs.

A person taking this diet does not grow weary and is in the right frame of mind unlike some of the risky chemical portions in commercial stores to help in weight loss.Sourced at our clinics, the product also borrows from survival tactics of Camel, popularly referred to as ships of the desert. Just like the camel manages to survive in desert for days without taking water, those taking this drug will be able to utilize their reserves until a recommended body weight is achieved.One of the outstanding strengths of this new invention is that there is no numbness of legs like one would experience in dry-fasting.As people become increasingly cautious and conscious of their weights and how it affect their health, some skip meals in a desperate attempt to shed the extra kilos, then there are also ladies who want to keep their shape.

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This innovation on which we are obtaining accreditation in our research is yet another demonstration that MURUGU NATURAL & HERBAL CLINIC is committed to ensuring that ours is a healthy nation since a healthy nation is a prosperous one.Even as we administer this, we still encourage our clients to embrace physical exercise for general wellness of the body.

To avoid relapse, we advocate for healthy lifestyles, avoiding junk foods, regular exercise and check-ups will go a long way in helping keep fit for an overweight is a recipe for a number of life threatening ailments that thrive in individuals with stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure among other heart conditions.

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WAIGuRu’S REPlACEMENT


Kenya’s main power pro-ducer, KenGen, has increase output from

hydro with the current heavy rains filling up the country’s major generating dams at the Seven Forks in Eastern Kenya.

Energy planners say all the dams in the cascade have at-tained their spilling levels while

the main Masinga Dam is still two metres to spilling at 1054.32 meters above sea level (masl).

The water levels at Kiambere- which is the lowest dam in the cascade, stood at 700.23 masl and is spilling 46 cubic meters (or 46 million litres) per second. At Masinga, the highest dam level is attained when the wa-ter reaches full supply level of 1,056.5 masl, beyond which the dam spills.

KenGen Managing Director and CEO , Eng. Albert Mugo said increased inflows to the Seven Forks will raise contri-bution from the hydro mode of generation and lead to an opti-mum mix, adding that KenGen’s other power generating units were operating normally.

“Hydro generation is the cheapest mode of generation and therefore any increase in its uptake by the off taker will dis-place an equivalent amount of other sources from the system. This can only result in the stabil-ity and predictability in the price of electricity to consumers,” said Eng. Mugo.

KenGen has in recent weeks, following the onset of El Nino rains optimised on hydro re-source deliberately stepping up hydro generation to minimize spillage.

KenGen has at the same time advised communities living downstream Kiambere dam or near the banks of the Tana River in Garissa and Garsen areas to move to higher grounds to miti-gate any possible adverse effects of flooding.

NEWSDECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR 3

Wambora aids disabled


Embu County Govern-ment has started a program aimed at em-

powering Persons with Disabil-ities (PW D’s) to help them live meaningful lives as members of the society. The first phase saw Governor Martin Nyaga Wam-bora donate nine wheelchairs to Person with Disabilities from the four Sub-counties in Embu at the Department of Gender Social Hall.

The beginning of 2016 will see more than 100 wheel chairs and white canes provided by the county government as an ongoing part of the empower-ment program with the issu-ance of assistive devices.

Assistive devices and services are any product or service de-signed to enable persons with disabilities live with greater

independence in society. Com-mon examples of such devic-es are wheelchairs, crutches, hearing aids, calipers, surgical boots and prosthetic limbs, white cane, screen reading pro-grammes etc.

Embu County Government with assistance from The Na-tional Council for Persons with Disabilities and The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2003 through The National Devel-opment Fund for Persons with Disabilities are committed in a concerted effort to ensure equal opportunities for persons with disabilities and their full par-ticipation in nation-building to the over 6000 registered PW Ds and organizations in Embu County.

The funds and act provide provisions in law that support the provision of assistive devic-es and services to persons with disabilities in County and give

priority to those individuals re-quiring assistance for purposes of learning, training or in the work environment. There are also Education grants which are designed to empower peo-ple with disabilities by improv-ing access to opportunities in education, training and reha-bilitation institutions.

PW’S are also afforded grants to community and self-help groups for economic empow-erment activities. These grants are aimed to help persons with disabilities improve their in-comes, skills and experience in business and to open up oppor-tunities for access to loans from mainstream financial institu-tions to grow their business. The groups must be of and for persons with disabilities with at least 70% of membership com-prising persons with disabilities or parents of children with dis-abilities.

Embu dams KenGen increase power output

Some of the beneficiaries of

GOvERNOR’S AID

BY MT KENYYA STAR REPORTER

Izaak Walton Inn is a charming ho-tel that boasts all of the modern conveniences of the city with the old

world charm of a 1930s fishermen retreat, and a rich history.

Established in the 1930s, the perfect-ly groomed green lush grounds of Izaak Walton Inn have still maintained the charm of a peaceful cottage atmosphere.

The beige umbrellas in the courtyard provides just enough shade from the strong sun but casts an inviting sun-kissed glow that guests cannot decline – the perfect spot for a good cocktail or relaxing lunch.

And living up to its fishing traditions, a meal of fresh trout fish is a recommended try for any visitor to the hotel.

From fish to Mau Mau is the Room 16, also known as The Governor’s Room. It has special history; it is here that one of the governors was killed triggering the start of Mau Mau uprising in the area.

The governor was buried at the spot

but the body has since been exhumed. The room has remained the same and the wooden parquet floor still makes the space as warm and inviting as it could be.

Its name comes from English Fisher-man Izaak Walton, whose famous book; ‘The Compleat Angler’ was published in 1653. It was a famous spot for fishermen using fishing rod from within the area in the pre-colonial era.

They would meet to showcase their tro-phies in competition. Izaak Walton (1594-1683) was a celebrated angling fan.

The Inn has 100 rooms but only 81 are operational currently. The room types are as follows:

Standard Rooms

The standard rooms are known to have a timeless charm due to their warm colours and rustic decor. Although the oldest rooms in the hotel, the standard rooms have proved to be the most pop-ular as they are beautiful colonial style rooms in which they were built during

a time where space and comfort was top most priority.

Superior Rooms

The superior rooms, as the name sug-gests, are in a league of their own. These rooms consist of elegant interiors and tastefully furnished interior. The superior rooms also have special amenities such as flat-screen televisions and a mini fridge. At the Izaak Walton Inn, we decided to take this luxury a step further and pro-vided the superior rooms with a large princely bed for the ultimate comfort experience.

Deluxe Rooms

These newly constructed rooms com-mand a great view of the beautiful expan-sive gardens that the Izaak Walton Inn is regionally renown for. As a result of this, the rooms are pristine and tranquil and this gives our guests the opportunity to fully delve themselves into complete re-laxation. The deluxe option features spa-cious rooms, large wardrobes, beautifully laid granite tiled floors and richly colored décor.

The hotel is known to serve wide range of African cuisines that cover almost all Kenyan ethnic favorites.

The hotel also has a squash court, steam bath, sauna, salon and barber shop, a gym, aerobics studio with instructors and a swimming pool with lifeguards.

The hotel also offers conference facili-ties, wedding grounds perfect for photo sessions and outside catering events.

The Kenol Tavern in arguably one the best spot to hang out while in Embu town and hosts karaoke nights every Thursday of every week and the disk jockey for the weekends not forgetting the kids corner.

POLITICS4 DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR

YOUTH



Izaak Walton Inn: a modern hotel with rich history

hOSPITAlITY

BY PETER KENNETH

Obama came and spoke to you.

The Pope has come and spoken to you.

There is no one left to come and speak to you. It is time for you to de-cide; the time for you to act. Do not let the words and encouragement of these two leaders go to waste.

Both President Obama and His Holiness were united on one point: that you (and all young people) are responsible for the greatness of this country; you can change this coun-try but not with tribalism in your hearts and minds, nor with hatred, or divisions.

Division is the only thing stand-ing in the way of the greatness of this country and the greatness of this generation. It is the only thing standing between this generation and the fight against poverty, dis-ease and corruption.

Obama spoke about your un-limited potential and how Kenya stands at a crossroad a moment of both promise and peril. The choice between which of those paths we take is yours. He urged unity and a respect for a person based on who they are not where they come from.

Kenya needs an answer from you now.

The Pope was much more direct and clear. Tribalism equals destruc-tion. His Holiness was also clear that you- have a choice to make and a path to choose.

“I want to invite you all today, to the young, and that we hold each other’s hands, let’s hold hands to-gether. Let’s stand up as a sign against tribalism. We are all a na-tion, that’s how our hearts must be. Tribalism isn’t just raising our hands today, it’s an expression of our desire, our hearts, and this trib-alism is a work we must carry out every day against this tendency. You have to listen to others, it’s a work of opening your heart.”

I ask you to open your heart and to keep it open so that we can pur-sue the greatness and the potential of this country. I honestly believe that it can be done; it is possible to make a break from the hatred and division of the past and write a new chapter in the history of this coun-try. This is not a country of stones or robots. You are not a robot. You are not a stone.

Tribalism has gotten us no-where. Think about it. What has it achieved? What has it added to your life? To the country?

Both Obama and the Pope spoke about corruption. The Holy Father was categorical: Corruption can destroy this country. Corruption is not the path to life. Corruption is the path to death, he said. Neither Obama nor the Pope said it but in this country tribalism is the most widespread form corruption-it is the ‘original sin.’ The people who take billions of shillings of our taxes do it under the cover of tribalism. The tribe will protect them. You will protect them. You will defend them.

My young friends we live a com-

mon life. The challenges of life be-long to us all; poverty, health; and unemployment are not tribe specif-ic and they never will be. If you go to the cancer ward at Kenyatta Hos-pital right now you will find that it reflects the face of Kenya. If you look at positions that need to pro-pel Kenya forward you will realize it does not. They call it politics. Are you okay with this?

Today there are young men and women like you who will go hungry because they could not get the job they need to buy their daily bread. This fate has nothing to do with their names.

Tribalism will condemn you and your children to a life of slavery to a group of individuals who will use you and never solve your problems. All tribal leaders are the same be-cause they believe in the same thing so there is no difference, no supe-riority between one and the other. They swear by the same principles.

A choice between tribal chiefs or parties is a choice between destruc-tion and destruction. The question you should ask yourself is how much destruction this country can take before it snaps? Tribal chiefs are very good at commanding your loyalty. They use words like ‘we’ or ‘us’ or ‘our’ people and you fall in line.

“Be ... suspicious ... of all those who employ the term ‘we’ or ‘us’ without your permission. This is [a] form of surreptitious conscription ... Always ask who this ‘we’ is; because more often than not it’s an attempt to smuggle tribalism through cus-toms.”

Christopher Hitchens

My friends there is only one ‘we’ the one that pledges allegiance to the National flag. I ask you to set aside any other and focus on the one true union that binds us all.

Leaving tribalism is not going to be easy: you will need your ears; your mind and your heart. You will need to start listening to new voices and opening your heart and mind to new ideas.

Many will try and discourage you: they will say Kenyans will never give up tribalism. Ask them where they met all 44 million of us and agreed to that. They will tell you things will never change-and you should respond. Of course they won’t if I don’t do anything about it.

In short my young friends; I am merely saying that tribalism is a waste of your talents; your energy and the potential of your entire gen-eration.

Obama was right when he said we have not inherited this nation from our ancestors but borrowed it from our children. You can make sure it does not return to them re-turn it broken, bruised and battered by tribalism and corruption.

What say you?

(Peter Kenneth is a politician and businessman who contested for the Presidency in the March 2013 elec-tions on a Kenya National Congress ticket finishing 4th.)

Letter to young Kenyans

The management and staff of Mt. Kenya Star PUBlISherS would like to thank our

readers, advertisers and supporters for your continued support. We take this opportunity to

wish you the best of


Stay blessed.

BY FILEX MURIITHI

A farmer in Gitare village of Runyenjes Constituency, Embu County has discovered a smarter deal of storing water for his animals.

Peter Njagi who has so far constructed two wooden tanks with each having a capacity of 1, 200 litres of water says the idea to construct wooden tanks crossed his mind after expe-riencing water shortage for a long time.

“I have tapped water but most of the time is when the pipe is dry. My animals had gone without water for some time making me think of an alternative,” Njagi says.

He adds since he constructed the first tank in May this year, his family and animals have never missed water not even a single day.

The farmer is in the process of constructing five more tanks that will hold 2, 000 litres each as he too wants to venture into growing vegetables and fruits that are in high demand in the area.

“This tank is economical as it requires timber, polythene papers, expert to design and nails for joining timbers in ei-ther a rectangular or square shape,” he justifies.

The wooden water tanks have a lid on top to protect dirty-ing of the important commodity. Its design makes it easy to be moved from one area to another because he has set them on stones beside walls of the house.

Njagi advises other farmers to embrace the new technolo-gy to curb water shortage that rocks the area mainly in dry seasons.

According to Njagi, constructing a single water tank would cost a farmer between Sh2, 000 to Sh5, 000 depending on the size one prefers.

“The plastic tank of the same capacity costs more than Sh7, 000. Currently, I am mostly constructing water tanks with the ability to hold 1, 000 litres for different farmers. This goes for Sh2, 000,” he tells MT. KENYA STAR.

Obed Njamura, an agricultural field extension officer based in Kyeni, Embu says the wooden tank is one of the cheapest water storage structures compared to traditional ones.

“It can be accommodated in a small space and this is an attractive phase for people with space challenges like those who live in towns,” Njamura points out.

Njagi fills his tanks with rain water tapped from the roof of his house as well as from his ‘seasonal’ tap.

Either he uses this water during dry seasons and saves money that would be used to pay for water-fetching services. “We pay Sh15 for every 20-litre delivered water can,” he says.


Several hundred youths in Embu who benefited from the Sh10 million County Youth

Trust Fund have defaulted servic-ing the loans and have gone into hiding.

This is according to the survey conducted by the Embu County As-sembly’s Youth and Sport Committee headed by nominated MCA Shunem Ngira Gatiti.

The youth have been benefitting from the trust fund to assist them start new businesses or expand the existing businesses.

“The youths either mistook the fund as being free cash or some are just criminals and have embezzled the funds. Some of those who cannot be traced took loans of up to Sh250,000,” she said.

The revelations are based on the survey that the committee conducted across the county to measure the ef-

fectiveness of the funds. It found that some youths left for Nairobi as soon as they received the loans and cannot be traced with the telephone numbers they provided.

But the survey also had positive findings; that most of the youths who were given less loan amount like Sh20,000 are actually doing good with the money and have been able to

boost their businesses.“We found that they have managed

to expand their businesses and actu-ally some are ready to pay their loans in one-off payment because they have realized the returns. They also plan to borrow more money to expand the business further,” she said.

The committee has now called on the County Executive Committee

member in charge of the Youth and Sports docket to enforce a mechanism that would ensure all the money is recovered so that more youths benefit from the kitty which was conceptual-ized as a revolving fund.

The committee has also recom-mended that the fund be decentral-ized in order to improve monitoring and compliance with the loan repay-ment. It recommends that a system of peer-to-peer guarantee among youth groups be established to avoid a situa-tion where some youth run away with the money, to the disadvantage of the future borrowers.

The committee has also recom-mended that Sh5 million should be added to the trust fund in the finan-cial year 2016/2017 to ensure that more youths benefit.

The committee also wants the con-cerned ministry to carry out public education among the youth to ensure they understand that the money is not for free and that it is a revolving fund that is intended to even benefit their children and the next generations.

BY FILEX MURIITHI

Focus Realtors Sac-co has come up with three new products to

ensure they live their mis-sion of mobilizing savings and give affordable credit to members, uplifting member livelihood and enlighten them with an aim of borrowing for economic thrift.

The Sacco has introduced the Pata Membership Pole Pole, Pata Shares Pole Pole and the Pata Shamba Pole Pole loans, the products which will see members and other poten-tial non-members get plots,

membership and shares easily.Donata Murugi, the Sacco

Manager said beneficiaries of the new products will be given enough time to repay the loans. “For instance, the beneficiaries can pay the plot loans at a maximum of four years where the first year will be interest free,” Murugi told MT. KENYA STAR.

She said for members to benefit from these products, they must have saved for three months. The Sacco is current-ly operating with Sh8m share capital. Murugi said through these and other upcoming products, the Sacco is aiming

to get at least Sh10m share capital by mid next year so as to open a front office.

“Previously we dealt with only savings and credit but introduction of these prod-ucts will see us shooting up our share capital remark-ably,” she believes.

Focus Realtors Sacco is the mother to Focus Real-tors Housing Cooperative Society that has recorded tre-mendous growth since it was formed in 2011. The Focus Realtors Housing Cooperative Society is currently operating with Sh32m capital base from Sh19m share capital in 2014.

Nelson Mwenda, the Fo-cus Realtors Housing Co-operative Society Manager said the housing capital base shares have increased largely because they deal with mem-ber savings and sale of plots. Focus Realtors Housing Co-operative is one of the main active housing co-operative in the entire Embu County that came as an initiative of Focus Realtors Sacco, former-ly Runyenjes Municipality

Focus Realtors Sacco launches three new loan products

NEWS 5DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR

Wooden water tank

Juakali Sacco.“Juakali was a government

initiative across the country launched in the year 2007 with the aim of bringing together and empowering artisans. It was launched in all the munic-ipalities,” said Jamal Runyenje, the Chairman Focus Realtors Housing Co-operative.

Murugi added the Sacco due to her main agenda formed the Housing Co-operative so-ciety in 2012 and has seen it improving.

Murugi said the Sacco in connection with the housing co-operative offers extensive and exhaustive training on saving, borrowing wisely, and making a follow up of their customers for capacity build-ing and mobilizing resources in order to create a strong fi-nancial base to

improve social economic welfare of the members. The Focus Realtors Sacco current-ly has 826 members and the housing cooperative society has 497 members.

SACCO lOANS

Smarter way to store water?

WOODEN WATER STORAGE TANKS

Youths disappear with trust fund money

The Sacco has introduced the Pata Membership Pole Pole, Pata Shares Pole Pole and the Pata Shamba Pole Pole loans, the products which will see members and other potential non-members get plots, membership and shares easily.

Patrick Njagi draws watere from his wooden water tank.

FARMING

a small scale farmer involved in Maize and bean mixed farming in lower parts of embu John njeru leads her children in weeding for the family crop at their Gatondo one acre piece of land.

BY FILEX MURIITHI

Embu County Secretary Raymond Kinyua has said that an estimate

of extra Sh35 million will be enough to fully-complete the Embu County Talent Academy.

Kinyua said the acad-emy had already spent Sh13 million. He said the extra cash would be used to secure the place, construct

parking area and construct a stan-dard swimming pool that can hold competi-tions.“As at now I may

not really be able to

give the estimate for swimming pool. But on estimate am certainly sure if the budget committee can extend to this facility, collectively we can get around Sh50 million that I am sure will do us good,” the CS said.

He added, “My appeal is that we complete this project. When we en-gage in a certain good project that has returns that we are proud of we do it to the end. Then we can com-fortably say that we have a facility that other counties can come and benchmark on.”

The former Embu County Youth empowerment and sports chief of-ficer said that the facility already has an amphitheatre and the au-ditorium that is hosting the bas-ketball.

Nominated MCA and head of the Youth and Sports Committee at the

Embu County Assembly Shunem Ngira said the facility will have a major positive impact in nurturing youth talents when completed.

Ngira appealed to parents and other concerned bodies to assist in moulding youth talents which she said would help them to become economically independent.

The youth leaders were speaking during the official launch of the in-augural regional basketball tourna-ments at the facility. The academy is one of the youth projects initiat-ed by Governor Martin Wambora. It located at the former sports club in Blue Valley Estate in Kirimari Ward, the area that also hosts Chu-ka University-Embu Campus and Embu

College among other upcoming institutions.

COUNTY BRIEFS6 DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR

Embu county wins energy award

Sh35m needed to complete Talent Academy

County workers panic over possible loss of jobs

Rice furrows to generate electricity

SOURCE OF REVENUE IN KIRINYAGA FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2014/2015

FRuITS FOREvER

Gov. Martin Wambora celebrates the energy award with other county officials.

Vegetable trader at the Embu Municipal Council Retail Market Joseph Njue Gatune displays assorted fruits for sale to customers.


A project to generate 30 kilo-watts of electricity from a micro-hydro-power project

using water from the furrows of Mwea Rice Irrigation Scheme at a cost of Sh150million has been launched.

The project uses Ultra-Low Head Micro Hydro Power technology and is being implemented by the Kenyan and Japanese Government in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

Power generated will be connect-ed to the over 5,000 households in the Kiuria village and will go a long way in enhancing rural electrifica-tion in the country.

Environment Secretary, Alice Akinyi Kaudia said the ultra-low head micro hydro-power gener-ation will also conserve the envi-ronment by reducing the usage of firewood in the households.

She said the project was first been launched in the country due to her progressive transition to-wards the use of clean energy such as wind, hydro and geothermal en-ergy to mitigate effects of climate change.


Embu County Government was last night during the Governor’s Awards Gala Dinner held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi

recognized and bestowed with the “Support for In-novation in Energy Award.”

This award reaffirms Governor Wambora’s com-mitment in facilitating provision and maintenance of quality and reliable energy sources and facilities for sustainable social-economic development. It’s worth noting that Embu County has three objectives in the development of energy as follows:-

(a) Increase Energy Supply(b) Reduce Energy Costs(c) Increase Energy Efficiency

Model projects include the establishment of Machang’a Power Ltd for Generation of Solar and wind Power. This is situated in Machang’a area of the County. Governor Wambora has also signed an MOU with Four Seasons United Energy of USA towards the generation of 100mv solar power and 40mw wind power at an estimated cost of Ksh. 26.6 billion at Machang’a while Kariro Micro Hydropow-er project at kirurumwe river is expected to produce 6500w and will serve 100members representing 100 households.

The county already has 58 floodlights which have increased market working hours thus bringing gov-ernor’s vision of a 24hr economy close while the implementation of street lighting programme has reduced crime rate. The solar street lighting


Panic and anxiety has gripped over 300 employees of the Embu County Executive after the Em-

ployment and Labour Relations Court sitting in Nyeri ruled last week that their recruitment was illegal.

The employees were hired by an illegal board according to the Court since the County Public Service Board Chairman, Mundia Geteria and Secre-tary Johnson Nyaga had been fired by Governor Martin Wambora for inept performance, truancy, violation of the constitution and gross misconduct over

a year ago.The situation has scared most of the

employees at the executive making them unable to effectively discharge their duties.

During County assembly debate on Wednesday, Budget and Appropriations Committee Chair, Joseph Mwaniki said the ruling was unfair since careers of the employees might end in an abrupt.

The Mavuria MCA said more than 300 families will be adversely affected by the order and warned that Embu County may experience a social eco-nomic catastrophe if the 300 lose their jobs.

“Appointment letters for county employees should contain their exit channels. Despite being unionasable, they don’t have strong unions to defend them in case of mistreatment,” he said.

He said a spot check at the County Executive established that most work-ers were mentally tortured and spent working hours mulling on the next cause of action should they be sacked.

Speaker Mate stated that discussing the merits and demerits at the Assem-bly amounted to contempt and that they will not delve in to such matters.

Mate however, said that those who would be laid off had the option of ap-

pealing the case.He said he had consulted with Gov-

ernor Martin Wambora to check on a possibility to appeal the decision of the court, saying such matters could only be remedied through proper legal mecha-nisms.

The court ordered that Gateria be reinstated and Embu County Govern-ment to pay him Shs 2.025million by December 1, 2015.

Governor Wambora was also ordered to pay him an additional sum of Shs. 5 Million by January 1, 2016 for the vio-lation of the petitioner’s fundamental rights and freedoms.

Merry Christmas and Prosperous

2016!

FROM MT.KENYA STAR

TEAM

BY ROBERT NYAGAH

The management of the Embu Cultural Centre is mobilizing local and international partners to im-

prove standards at the centre.Part of the improvement projects will

involve the establishment and equipping of a modern museum at cost of more than Sh100 million, initiation of a permanent herbal clinic as well as a nature trail com-plete with herbal plants.

According to the Embu County Cultur-al Officer Ms. Emily Ngari, the museum project will be a long term venture and will include identification and collection of arti-facts from various private museums and people.

The cultural officer said that Embu County had three private museums and operators of the institutions had expressed their willingness to do-nate historical and cultural pieces to the centre once the museum in estab-lished.

She said a semi permanent clinic which had collapsed would be revived to allow the herbalists to operate at the centre on daily basis.

“We work with licensed herbal medi-cine dealers all who have had their medi-cines tested and approved as effective by a number of universities including the Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology,” said Ms Ngari.

“We have started working with various traditional dancing troupes and artists and soon this place will be transformed to an open theatre and hence a major attrac-tion for revelers from all walks of life” said the cultural officer.

Perhaps the most successful projects under the centre at present is the estab-

lishment of a modern multi- purpose hall and a nature trail with section which hosts herbal gardens where 98 per cent of all the trees were of medicinal value.

The nature trail, the cultural officer said would also host various local and tra-ditional food crops such as arrow roots, sweet potatoes, cas-sava and vegetables most of which face the danger of becom-ing extinct as Ken-yans abandon them.

“We wish to establish means of encour-aging communities to understand various herbal plants and traditional food crops and sample the same once our restaurant becomes fully operational” said the officer.

BY ROBERT NYAGAH

Members of the Civ-il Society in Embu want the County

government to streamline its public communication depart-ment to ensure better access of information on budgets and projects under implementation.

Streamlined flow of informa-tion between the government and the tax payers, the activists said will ensure that members of the public have an input on priority projects planned by the County government.

In an interview with the MT. KENYA STAR, a group of mem-bers of the civil society operat-ing under the Bunge La Wa-nanchi to use localized means of communication like county newspapers, radios and barazas to improve the flow of informa-tion among the public.

Spokespersons for the Bunge La Wanachi Simon Njiru Nja-gi Alias Gikundo and Hesbon Nyagah alias Gangara asked the governor Mr. Martin Nyagah Wambora to reorganize his in-formation department to pro-mote better flow of government programs’ information to the

stakeholders at all levels.“Scanty information on

planned, accomplished and ongoing projects by the Embu County government is the cause of growing doubts among the members of the public who the beneficiaries of the services about the projects and the ex-penditure involved” said Mr. Gikundo.

Frequent wrangles between the executive and the assem-bly on the implementation and management of funds and projects, they said portrayed the government as lacking proper structures of operation.

“All we seek as the civil society is not empty criticisms against the Embu County government. We are pressing for open, pro-fessional structures of opera-tions. We want the public to be fully involved in indentifying the projects that they want to be prioritized in fudning,” said Mr. Gikundo.

He noted that for instance, despite water crisis in Mbeere South and Mbeere North coun-ties, few open dams have been constructed to tap the surface runoff water during the rains which.

Budgeting, the civil society members suggested should be pinned to priority projects of each area and unless such in-formation was collected from the wards, the executive would continue to make mistakes.

“If you asked the people of Mbeere counties what their im-mediate problems is, they clear-ly indicate water as they great challenge and declare that open dams which are simple to dig are a priority” said Mr. Gikundo.

Mr. Gikundo said more mon-ey should be spent on construc-

tion of earth sand dams across Mbeere region.

The dams, he said could end up creating huge green zones apart from supporting small scale irrigation projects at com-munity level where the water in dams could be shared between crop and livestock farmers.

The activists noted that lack of flow of information between the County government and stakeholders made the people of Embu feel that they did not own devolution.

Public participation pro-grams between the county government and the public, the civil society members suggest-ed should be improved so that stakeholders are aware of the budgets and planned projects with their input being consid-ered.

The activist said that demon-stration organized by the civil society to question projects by the county government was not meant to embarrass the gover-nor but the last means through which the public sought an-swers to questions which had remained unanswered for months.


EMBu lAuNChES INAuGuRAl REGIONAl BASKETBAll TOuRNAMENTS

Activists call on government to improve public communication

Embu cultural centre to be revived

MANGOE DISEAS

A mango farmer in Embu stares at a mature fruit that has been affected by diseases. Farmers want more assistance from the government to mango growing and processing.

A group of members of the civil society operating under the Bunge La Wananchi to use localized means of communication like county newspapers, radios and barazas to improve the flow of information among the public.

We work with licensed herbal medicine dealers all who have had their medicines tested and approved as effective by a number of universities including the Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology,” said Ms Ngari.

the embu Bunge la Wananchi members led by spokespersons Simon njiru njagi alias Gikundo (left) and hesbon nyagah alias Gangara (extreme right). the group wants county government to improve its engagement with the public through the media and public participation forums. the other officials are Vyonne Mbogo (third from left) and nyaga Mumbeere (second from left).

leading herbalist and the vice chairman the embu traditional Medicines Practitioners njiru njuguna shows one of the medicinal plants at the embu Cultural Centre botanical garden where herbal plants.

BY FILEX MURIITHI

An annual basketball competition that will involve teams drawn from Mt. Kenya region and Nairobi has been lauched in Embu. The tournament is meant to tap into the unexploited basketball talents of young people in the region, who can use them to earn billions of shillings by playing in professional leagues.

INFORMATION MESEuM

BY FILEX MURIITHI

Kariuki Kobuthi lives few metres from the base of the magnificent Kirimiri Forest, which sort of

provides him with the natural inspira-tion to go on with his craft of being a self-made surgeon.

He regularly receives visitors from as far as Tanganyika, Isiolo, Namanga and Makueni among other places.

The 88-year-old affable man is famously known for cutting epiglottis/kirimi/ uvu-la of the first president of Kenya, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s. Even today, that is his specialty that attracts people from as a far as outside Kenya.

“This is my 61st year in my profession. I began this job in 1954 after I was re-leased from detention following the Mau Mau war,” Kariuki who hails from Nduuri market in Runyenjes municipality says. Though being respected for ‘treating’ the late President Kenyatta and fighting for the country’s freedom, he says fighting for Kenya’s independent added no value to fighters’ lives.

“I get everything for a living from this business,” he says adding that he charges Sh200 for the service. He learned the skills from observing as Inyasio Ndwiga, whom they worked with in a clothes’ repair shop in Runyenjes town treated his patients

and took over immediately after Ndwiga passed on.

Kariuki has already trained four people on how to cut the soft tissue at the rear of the throat. One of the four is his son, Stephen Ireri who assists him often. Ireri has four years experience.

Kobuthi says the epiglottis can be cut anytime of the day but notes it is good to cut it in the morning before taking break-fast.

“It is easily cut at any time as it is always soft because of the saliva. But it is good to cut in the morning before the ‘patient’ can take breakfast. Saliva helps the wound to heal quickly,” he tells MT. KENYA STAR.

After thirty minutes of our chat about his profession, a young couple arrives with the wife carrying a two-week-old baby.

They greet us and instantly requests to talk to the old man. They have requested for his unique service-cutting epiglottis which, according to the octogenarian Kobuthi, is necessary because the baby is coughing uncontrollably.

He signals his third wife’s first born son, Stephen Ireri who is just sitting on the other side of the dusty street that seems impassable when it rains. He however comes and assists his father to carry on the service.

Wobbling on his crutches, the old man enters the shop and comes out with a spoon, thin wire and a razor (wire and ra-

zor, both inserted in a thin stalk). From ob-servation, one feels both the physical and emotional pain the old man goes through.

“There is a man whom I have also taught the skills to work with my son but because he is not around, I help him deliv-er the service. I am old,” Kobuthi says as Ireri picks the small baby from its mother.

Kobuthi removes the epiglottis within a span of seconds. “Breastfeed your child to stop it from crying,” he orders the child’s mother.

“It also did not take long to cut Presi-dent Kenyatta’s epiglottis because I had few years’ experience. When I ‘treated’ Kenyatta, the fee was sh3 and has risen to Sh200 now. Before you arrived, we had treated four others,” he says.

The elderly man says he cannot remem-ber the exact year he cut the president but places it as between 1964 and 1966 when the presidential convoy zoomed into Runyenjes town where he reportedly per-formed the critical operation.

“Mzee Kenyatta had persistent cough-ing that had probably begun during his de-tention. Due to the fact that I was already popular in 1960s, I was called for help. After I cut his epiglottis, he completely cured,” he says. Cutting of epiglottis is a tra-dition practise that has persisted in Embu.

Though word has it, he strongly refutes a popular talk that after he performed the operation he was locked at an unknown place by Mzee Kenyatta’s handlers until the president healed completely.

“I was not locked up as many say. There were no hurdles to the people I had earli-er treated and most of them healed in one week time,” Kobuthi who receives between 3 and 6 patients per day says.

He says the business has helped him put food on the table. However, Mzee Kobuthi hopes to meet President Uhuru Kenyatta one day and chat a bit about his self-taught skills.

According to Joseph Ngwasi, the sec-retary Kenya National Union of Nurses, Embu branch cutting of epiglottis may lead to lose of taste as it contains taste buds. “It may also lead to excessive bleeding leading to hemorrhagic shock,” he warns.

Ngwasi who doubles as the union’s National Deputy Chairman says epiglottis prevents food from entering trachea and instead directs it to the oesophagus which is at the back.

BY FILEX MURIITHI

Lucy Kagendo from Kianjokoma area of Embu County dropped out of school in form two because her

parents could not afford school fees. But today, she is a successful business lady employing more than five people and an accomplished musician.

She is a passionate hairdresser who jointly own a classic hair salon and Nice and Lovely hair-dressing college in Kian-jokoma Town that train and nature bud-ding hair-dressers. “I adore my job and this is why I was able to reach my current financial status,” she said.

FEATURE8 DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR

lucy Kagendo(in checked suit) alongside her employees who are serving other customers at Kianjokoma.

Kagendo displays her first album.

Mzee Kobuthi cuts uvura or kirimi of a toddler. he cut the same for Mzee Jomo Kenyatta when he was released from lodwar dentention camp.

Kagendo dropped in Form Two, but now owns a school

“I dropped out of school in the year 2004 and returned to the village where I worked in peoples’ tea farms as a casual labourer earning Sh120 per day,” she re-calls saying during this time, her family could survive on a single meal per day.

According to Kagendo, to become a successful hair dresser, one should be passionate and be interested in it. Those in the hair-dressing industry confess that the venture is popular and fetches good money.

In a good day, being a hair dresser, one can take home even Sh5,000 depending with the style and in a bad day, one can earn Sh1,000. This can see one earning Sh30,000 in a bad month.

“There is a style that costs even Sh800 per head. Getting a minimum of three customers paying this amount each per day, one can even fetch Sh72, 000 a month,” Catherine Karimi, a former student at Nice and Lovely College and a hair dresser in Runyenjes says.

Kagendo’s desire to inspire others by offering them knowledge on different hair styles has borne fruits as many youngsters have gone through her col-lege and cut a niche for themselves-both males and females. Kagendo’s urge to venture into hairdressing profession

started when she was in lower primary school.

“By that time, we used to interweave grass with three of my primary school friends. That was one of our major activ-ities during break times as fellow class-mates jumped ropes as others played hide and seek games,” she says.

Still, she would braid children and fellow age mate hairs when she was not in the tea bushes after dropping out of school. This perfected her art outshining many experienced hairdressers in Kian-jokoma.

“My perfect services made many cli-ents stroll all the way from the town to my parent’s home-barely a kilometre, where I worked from. The growing num-ber of customers, convinced me to start a hair salon in Kianjokoma,” she says.

Kagendo never knew plaiting grass was her founding steps to venture into hairdressing industry. To start the hair salon, she confronted her elder brother who loaned her Sh70, 000 eight years ago. She was able to refund the cash within the first year. Now, the affable lady is planning to open new college branches in different towns of Embu County before extending to other coun-ties much later.

“God has given me knowledge to man-age my projects. I am planning to open new branches so as to create more job opportunities for youth,” she notes say-ing currently, she has employed seven people.

He College trains students for eight consecutive months before awarding them with certificates. She says the stu-dents enrol for internships where she diligently supervises them. “Customers need satisfaction so we must offer them it so as to remain essential in this vast field.” When asked about the benefits, Kagendo says the venture has helped her produce her first gospel album and offer jobs to young people.

“Unemployment is a still a problem to-day. However, we must understand our potential and work towards them. This will directly or indirectly reduce youth joblessness in the society,” she says.

Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s self-made surgeon speaks

In a good day, being a hair dresser, one can take home even Sh5,000 depending with the style and in a bad day, one can earn Sh1,000. This can see one earning Sh30,000 in a bad month.


Embu County has lost millions of shillings in court battles pitying the

Executive and the Assembly.Budget and Appropriations

Chairman Joseph Mwaniki dis-closed that more than 10% of the Sh4 billion county revenue allocations has been spent on law suits on matters that can be solved amicably through di-alogue.

Even as he disclosed this, a court in Nyeri ordered Gover-nor Martin Wambora to pay Sh5 million to a senior county official for wrongful dismissal. Labour and Employment Judge Justice Byram Ongaya further directed the immediate rein-statement of Mundia Njeru Ga-teria as chairman of the county public service board (CPSB).

Justice Ongaya also ordered the county administration to pay an additional Sh2 million to Mr Gateria by December 1. The

judge ruled that the award will attract interest at court rates from the date of the judgment.

The sum of Sh5 million will have to be paid to Gateria by January 1, next year, after the court found Wambora violated the constitutional rights of the petitioner. “For avoidance of doubt, he should resume his duties as the chairman without intimidation by the respon-dents and without a break in

service as appointed,” Ongaya further ruled.

During the press briefing, Speaker Kariuki Mate said such unending court tussles wast-ed time and finances and also brought bad blood between the two arms.

“If the County Executive in-curs millions to sue the Coun-ty Assembly on laws that we have passed and issues that can be resolved amicably, and

the Assembly spends an equal amount to defend itself, how much is left for development?” posed Mate.

Majority Leader Andrew Mu-sakwa said the high number of law suits involving the Assem-bly and the Executive were alarming and made the courts look like a department of the County Government.

Governor Martin Wambora has been in and out of court seeking to challenge his two impeachments by the County Assembly for the better part of 2014 and 2015.

Tussles between the two arms have seen County Secre-tary Raymond Kinyua move to court severally apparently to stop the legislature from get-ting into Executive’s line.

Former County Secretary Margaret Lorna Kariuki sued the County Government for wrongful dismissal and was awarded Sh12.8 Million in damages.


BY FILEX MURIITHI

Embu County Deputy Governor Dorothy Nditi has urged rape and gender-based violence vic-

tims to report to the police and depart-ments that deal with such matters to eradicate abuse.

Speaking during an event to flag off the sensitization walk in support to stop violence against women and girls, Nditi noted that many victims remain quiet after the act. “It is sad to

note that our boys are sodomised and keep quiet, our girls are defiled and re-main silent, our men and women are also raped and remain mute,” she said adding that reporting the cases to the concerned is the only way to eradicate sexual and domestic violence.

Either, she added everyone has the right to live and to grow into a respon-sible person. Nditi also challenged the children department to solve street children issues. “The children we see in the streets have rights too. They are supposed to be in school so as to be re-sponsible people in future. Let us work together to eradicate gender-based vi-olence,” she said.

The deputy governor posed, “We say Embu is a land of opportunities. Where are the opportunities for street children, raped women and men whose private parts are chopped off?” She added that these crimes deny vic-tims the comfortable life they deserve.

The walk was organised by UN women and Health care Assistance Kenya (HAK). Nditi condemned sexu-al and domestic violence in the county saying they have ruined the county.

She encouraged Embu residents to use the free helpline number 1195 and report cases of gender violence in their neighbourhoods and communities. Embu Level 5 hospital will offer free aid to gender-based violence victims both men and women.

BY FILEX MURIITHI

The Embu County Govern-ment is in the process of building a Sh240 million

Cancer Centre in its efforts to fight the disease.

Speaking after a cancer walk organised by Oasis of Hope re-cently, Raymond Kinyua, the Embu County Secretary said the centre would provide treatment and care for patients who cur-rently seek for similar services at Kenyatta National Hospital. He said cancer cases were on the rise and had even afflicted children.

“We are asking people to go for early cancer diagnosis and

testing. We have partnered with other stakeholders sensitising medical camps for free testing,” Kinyua said adding they are cur-rently referring positive cases to various hospitals as the County finalizes building up the centre.

The CS said already the Coun-ty had employed oncologists to work in the Centre that will be caring for cancer and kidney amid other major ailments pa-tients.

Carol Njagi, an event organizer and also a breast cancer survivor raised concern that fewer men than women turn up for the can-cer disease check-ups yet the dis-ease affect both gender.

She said that was the fourth camp they were holding and men participation was always low.

“Men should not fear going for cancer check-ups since when the disease is diagnosed early, treat-ment is easier. Cancer disease af-fects people of all ages,” she said.

Njagi revealed that uterus can-cer, cervix cancer and prostate cancer were more prevalent in Embu. She added, “Cases of lung, throat and blood cancers had been reported.”

Njagi praised governors who have signed for medical equip-ment from the national govern-ment, saying it would make can-cer treatment accessible to all.

County to build Cancer Centre

Cancer screening machine similar to what the cunty is to invest in.

embu County deputy Governor dorothy nditi.

10% of Embu revenue allocation spent on lawsuits

Report rape, Nditi urges residents

County has employed oncologists to work in the Centre that will be caring for cancer and kidney amid other major ailments patients.

lITIGATION

CANCER CENTRE

BY KNA

Embu County Government has disbanded all sand harvesting groups in Kiambere ward in a

move aimed at ending a dispute pit-ting residents and the Tana and Athi River Development Authority (Tarda).

The dispute arose last month after residents complained of exploitation by the groups and Tarda; and destruction of their roads.

They protested that the Sh2,000 that Tarda charges the groups were illegal since it gave the harvesters the leeway to destroy their roads and water sources.

County Lands and Environment Exec-utive, Josphat Kithumbu said the groups will be required to register afresh with the county government.

He said once registered, they will be is-sued with a certificate of approval as well as be required to start a tree nursery in their areas.

The trees will be planted in the areas to enhance environmental conservation.

Kithumbu said they will engage National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to conduct an envi-ronmental impact assessment study on

sand harvesting in the area adding that TARDA too will also be required to show the benefits that the community will get from sand harvesting.

He was speaking during a sand har-vesters stakeholders meeting attended by Embu County Deputy Governor, Dor-othy Nditi at Kiambere Catholic Church hall on Tuesday.

Nditi noted that sand harvesting in the region had been unregulated for years risking depletion and destruction of the environment.

He said the new regulations that will be contained in the County Environmen-tal Bill would guide sand harvesting in the region, adding that a portion of the levies collected by county government from lorries ferrying sand be set aside to develop area roads and resources.

Residents complained that the shs.2, 000 collected by TARDA was illegal and should stop with some, saying they were not being issued with receipts.

They accused TARDA of using police officers to harass those groups that do not pay the said amount.

They also accused the authority of allowing groups that were affiliated to them to harvest sand in the area for free.

Sand harvester groups disbanded

Sand harvesting site.

AGRI-BUSINESS10 DECEMBER 2015MT KENYA STAR

BY FILEX MURIITHI

Dairy farmers in Thara-ka-Nithi County will soon be traced through a

digital platform and served with-in shortest time possible.

Anderson Mutegi, the Tharaka, Igamba Ng’ombe, Maara and Chu-ka (TIMAC) Dairy Union Chief Ex-

ecutive Officer said establishment of a Dairy Digital Platform will see farmers in the County marked out and offered support immediately.

“Whatever stagnation or retar-dation will be noticed and action will be taken immediately. We are in the initial stages of establishing the platform,” he said.

He added, “We have partnered with Procurement Technical Agri-business Centre (PTAC), an or-ganisation that will conduct dairy farmer profiling exercise in the en-tire County.”

Speaking during the official launch of Tharaka-Nithi dairy farmer profiling exercise at Kirubia Stadium in Mugwe location, Mute-gi said the exercise will commence immediately. TIMAC is the coun-ty’s dairy farmers union formed and launched in June 2015.

Joshua Muthami, the PTAC exec-utive director said the information required for the digital platform is farmer details, their breeds, and size of their farm so as to advise on the number each farmer should keep.

“This ensures that we can track farmer production and manage it in a digital way. We also have a program to educate farmers on the best dairy farming management. The digital program will help farmers to keep their dairy records safe.”

Fides Kaburu, the Tharaka-Nithi Agricultural Sector Development Support Program (ASDSP) officer who is in charge of cow milk value chain in the County said the re-cently launched union has brought

grin in dairy farmers’ faces.“Farmers used to sell their milk

at between Sh20 to Sh35 per litre but after establishing TIMAC in the last three months, they now sell a litre at Sh40. The union’s main aim is to give dairy farmers in the county bargaining power as they can even dictate the prices,” she said.

Kaburu said Tharaka-Nithi dairy farmers under the umbrella TI-MAC will also start adding value to their milk in few months time so as to increase farmer-income.

“We will organise on how farm-ers will be getting veterinary ser-vices as soon as they need them. We will also renovate cattle dips in the county,” Lucy Karimi, the Tharaka-Nithi Agriculture, Fish-eries and Livestock minister said adding that they have already started buying animal vaccines.

Farmers interviewed by MT. KENYA STAR said they face major challenges of sub-standard feeds and inadequate veterinary officers.

Either, they have a strong belief that the union will far much assist them. “I belief that TIMAC will as-sist farmers to see benefits of being dairy farmers,” Esther Muthoni, a dairy farmer in Mugwe location said.

However, Tharaka-Nithi Coun-ty governor, Samuel Mbae Ragwa said farming is the main thing that will help Tharaka residents.

“As a County, we will see how we can have animal feeds company soon which will have farmers get-ting standard feeds at an afford-able price,” Ragwa said.

Tharaka-Nithi to digitize dairy farmers’ records

tharaka-nithi County governor Samuel Mbae ragwa and County’s trade, Cooperatives and Industry minister tabitha Wambungu during official launch of tharaka-nithi dairy farmer profiling exercise at Kirubia stadium.

Caroline Murugi, 20, seals the packed crisps.

Faith Mbogo, the Kaigoro Star Women Group chair person mills the dried bananas at their firm in Kirigi, Manyatta Constituency.

BY FILEX MURIITHI

Eager to make an extra income and pursue their dream of setting up a food

manufacturing factory, Kaigoro Star Women Self-Help group members approached the Min-istry of Agriculture for training.

They did get that training and their move paid off as they today own Kaigoro Star Women

Company that produces packaged KIKAI Banana Flour amidst other banana products.

“We started this group back in 2009 as a self-help group with the main aim of empowering women. We had embraced ta-ble banking as our main activ-ity that saw members borrow-ing cash. However, we had an idea of setting up a company one day,” says Faith Mbogo, the group chairperson.

“We worked tirelessly, closely with the ministry until we start-ed adding value to bananas two years ago,” she adds. After two years of saving and borrowing, Kaigoro Star Women Self-help Group thought it was the high time to lay foundations of start-ing the Company.

“We thought of opening a bank account so that we can start banking our savings but a section of members refused al-leging that it was an avenue to steal their money. This caused the first split leaving only 20 ac-tive members,” she says.

Jane Muthoni, the group trea-surer says they always called officers from the ministry of agriculture and social services

to witness sub-division of money when some members thought of abandoning the group.

The other fourteen members, who were left, went on produc-ing banana products such as flour, crisps and cakes in bits selling to locals. “We have pack-ets that costs as little as Sh10.”

In mid 2012 some officers from the agriculture ministry visited the remaining group members at their village and told them to write a propos-al for funding. Their proposal went through and they bene-fitted with Sh221, 000 funding from Smallholder Horticulture Marketing Program (SHOMaP) that they used to buy a miller, weighing machine and installed a drier.

“Bananas are readily available. Each of our members has grown bananas and when they are not ready, we buy from the locals. We buy each banana from them at a cost of Sh300 to Sh500,” Muthoni tells us adding that in a moth they buy banana worth Sh10, 000 from the locals.

Today, the women have found ready market from a private company in Nairobi. They sell 250 kilos of banana flour to the company after every two weeks. Each kilo goes for Sh200. In ad-dition, they sell crisps, flour and banana chips to locals. Collec-tively, they can make

more than Sh50, 000 after two weeks. They are now thinking of expanding their production by installing two other driers and buying a chipper to make work easier.

Banana flour the new cash king for Kaigoro women

After buying a bunch of bananas, we weigh them, detach each from the stalk and wash them gently. We leave them to dry for some minutes and then cut the ends. We then slice them into a shilling-size pieces which we spread in the drier to fully dehydrate.

In hot weather, they can take 4-5 days to dry and in cold whether they can even take two weeks to dry. However, we tend to dry as much as possible in hot weather to maintain the supply. After drying we weigh them again and pour the dried slices into the miller and the result is banana flour.

We then pack the flour and staple with the KIKAI flour sticker. A 500 gram packet locally goes for Sh100 while each 50 gram packet costs Sh50. We however use the same flour to bake cakes and prepare porridge.

Rita Njue, a food scientist based in Chuka, Thara-ka-Nithi County says banana flour and products are of high nutritional value. “The green rinds provide good sourceoffibres.Inaddition,it’sagoodsourceofvita-min, Potassium, Zinc and starch which highly help

inmaintainingbodyfitness,”Njuesays.CarolineMurugi,20, the youngest member in the group says banana is a delicacy and untapped resource for wealth creation.

HOw TO MAKE bANANA FLOUR

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Mango farmers seek support to buy pulp machinesBY ROBERT NYAGAH

Mango farmers have asked for support to buy small scale fruit

pulp making machines to ensure value addition, preservation of and better sale opportunities for their mango produce.

Mary Wamuyu, a mango farmer in Manyatta said that for years Mango now farmers have experienced major losses due to exploitation by middlemen and brokers who buy their fruits raw and transport them to Nairobi or to the international market hence earning better profits than the

producers. She said the middlemen take

advantage of the single mango an-nual season which ensures over-production of the fruits at a time when outlets are limited against a background where farmers lack modern facilitation for storage or preservation of the fruits.

“The problem with mangoes is that there is only a single season in Kenya where all parts of the country produce huge amounts of mangoes forcing the markets to be saturated and the middlemen to take advantage and exploit the farmers with poor prices or else the farmer loose all the produce,”

said Wamuyu who grows all spe-cies of mangoes in her rain fed two acre farm.

“We have been receiving good advice from experts in the private and government extension service providers on how to deal with dis-eases and pests through field days, but losses have been almost over-whelming,” said Wamuyu.

Another farmer Ms Phyllis Wan-jovi, a retired Nairobi City Council employee who owns 100 mango trees says she has been earning a mere Sh20,000 from her crop but according to extension officers, if the crop is better managed, she can earn up to Sh. 200,000.

FARMER PROFIlING

BY FILEX MURIITHI

In some parts of Embu County, women are still being circumcised; an out-

dated practice that is not only against the law but also affects the ability of women to enjoy intimacy and can lead to com-plications during birth.

Embu County ranks number four out of 47 Counties in the prevalence of the outdated Fe-male Genital Mutilation (FGM) cultural practice, statistics have shown.

The statistics shows that 49 percent of girls undergo the cut. In the last few months, FGM practices have been on the rise in Embu County in spite of spir-ited campaigns against it by lo-cal leaders, activism groups and Christians.

During a recent forum pre-sided over by Anti-FGM Board Chair Linah Jebii Kilimo at Makima in Mbeere South sub-county, participants were disturbed by the high rates of FGM in the area and its effect during child birth alongside girl-school dropouts.

Embu Women Representa-tive Rose Mitaru said people purporting to be medics were circumcising girls for as little as Sh500 and in some cases girls bled and risked dying.

She expressed concerns that at least 49percent of girls in the county were subjected to FMG practice and vowed to lead in fighting the rite. She said the County had lost lost women at

childbirth due to difficulty in giving birth occasioned by mu-tilations to their genitals.

“We must take action to en-sure no other woman loses life or drops out of school due to an outdated practice. I urge girls to resist the cut even when prompted by their grandpar-ents,” Mitaru said.

Kilimo told the forum that subjecting girls to this opera-tion was a crime and impedes development. However, the An-ti-FGM board chair urged com-munity leaders who include church elders to be on the fore-front in Anti-FGM campaigns and ensure no girl will be cut.

She said, “Alternative rites of passage should be exploited as means of mitigating strong

beliefs and traditions that are deep rooted in certain commu-nities.”

She revealed that the board’s efforts had seen reduction in FGM practices by six percent nationally though the practice remained high in some commu-nities.

Theme of the forum that was sponsored by Action Aid Kenya, religious, cultural, council of el-ders and County Government representatives was ‘consoli-dating efforts to end FGM in Kenya.’

During the forum leaders said there was a need to change tac-tics to address the practice in County. The Anti-FGM Board CEO, Jane Mwereru revealed that efforts were underway to incorporate Anti-FGM lessons in the school curriculum.

Embu County Assembly rep-resentatives informed the pub-lic that they were in the process of passing into law a cultural bill aimed at addressing retro-gressive cultural practices such as FGM.

Ngome Council of Clders representative Ben Kanyenji said the practice has no value in modern society adding that as custodians of culture they have embarked on teaching the community to shun the practice terming it as retrogressive.

On the same issue, Embu Bishops and Pastors Forum Sec-retary John Gachungi said the church had resolved to take dis-ciplinary action against faithful who encourage FGM.


BY FILEX MURIITHI

After undergoing training on court processes, Embu County residents have resolved to use

alternative dispute resolution mech-anisms to settle land and minor do-mestic issues.

Out of court dispute resolution is not only cheaper but also helps to improve social relations within a community.

The residents who are members of Nyangi Ndiiriri Council of Elders resolved to take alternative mech-anisms to solve disputes after they were trained by a team of lawyers from Nairobi.

The members of the influential council of elders feel that using other mechanisms would be cost effective and also save time compared to fill-ing of law suits in the court. Following this resolution, moving to court will be the last option.

Andrew Ireri, the Council Chair-man said their move is founded on the constitution which has a provi-sion for people in dispute to come into terms to settle cases out of court.

“Those in disputes can even agree to withdraw cases from court. While a magistrate or judge may not advise litigants to retract a case that is before court,” he added saying the elders will be appealing to people to consider

out of court settlements in applicable cases.

He noted that their members will now seek advice from the elders be-fore they can move to the courts. Ireri was speaking after a legal clinic by volunteer lawyers in Embu town.

“People face many difficulties in pursuit of justice. Some engage ex-pensive

lawyers and later change them before the case is ruled. During the entire

process many end up selling their properties to cater for the services,” he said.

“We volunteered to train the com-munity about court processes after reading the problems they face in accessing justice in past stories pub-lished on a local daily,” said Sospeter Opondo of Simiyu, Opondo, Kiringa and Company Advocates, who led the lawyers.

The lawyers first held a workshop in July where community leaders were taught on basic land laws, how to represent themselves in court and alternative dispute resolution mecha-nisms to address complaints.

“We then brought a team of 40 law-yers who trained residents at Kairuri, Runyenjes and Embu town,” he said revealing such training would contin-ue quarterly even in the other areas of the county.

Training enables residents to resolve disputes out of court

Kyeni Consolata Mission Hospital to offer more services

Circumcision of women happening in parts of Embu

Anti-FGM Board Chair Linah Jebii Kilimo.

Embu Women Rep. Rose Mitaru.

The statistics shows that 49 percent of girls undergo the cut. In the last few months, FGM practices have been on the rise in Embu County in spite of spirited campaigns against it by local leaders, activism groups and Christians.

hEAlTh SERvICES

BY FILEX MURIITHI

Consolata Mission Hospi-tal-Kyeni that serves about 516, 000 people has put up

a new five-storey block aimed at offering improved and enhanced services.

The hospital Managing Direc-tor Fr Dominic Muriuki said the introduction of the new block will facilitate introduction of several services such as Ear, Nose and Throat(ENT), eye clinic, Comput-er Tomography (CT) and Casualty among others.

He told MT. KENYA STAR that over the years the number of pa-tients has steadily gone up. “The new block that will be opened before the year ends will help de-congest the expanding number of patients,” Fr Muriuki said.

When health officers go on

strike in government hospitals and clinics for instance, Kyeni Hospital amid other private hospitals takes care of the increased number of patients necessitating sharing of beds.

“In normal circumstances there is no sharing of beds but there is congestion in the wards as we have to fix annex beds in between the normal room arrangements,” Theresa Mwaniki, the hospital matron revealed.

The hospital which is located in Runyenjes sub-county in Embu County operates as a level 4 hospi-tal. It is sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Embu. The matron add-ed that Kyeni mission hospital has the basics in terms of equipments and staff that enable workers take care of the patients.

“However, we hope to create more opportunities of handling

some of the complex cases referred to other health facilities like Embu level 5, Kenyatta national hospital

and Mater hospitals,” she added.The facility serves an average of

70 outpatients daily and bed occu-

pancy of between 80 and 90 per-cent. Kyeni hospital has a capacity of 167 beds.

“The hospital mission is to pro-vide quality services and medical training that is affordable and accessible to all, in a comprehen-sive, integrated and sustainable manner in line with the gospel values and the social teachings of the church,” Fr Muriuki said add-ing Kyeni Hospital is a non-profit making facility.

He added that the hospital serves as a primary catchment population of about 516, 000 as well as a primary referral hospi-tal for numerous health facilities within Embu and Meru regions.

The facility partners with the health commission of Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Christian Health Asso-ciation of Kenya (CHAK), Dream

Kenya, National Hospital Insur-ance Funds (NHIF) and the Min-istry of health at both County and National government level.

Currently, Consolata Mission Hospital-Kyeni has five resident doctors, one visiting surgeon, one visiting gynaecologist, five clinical officers and 45 nurses. The hospi-tal was started in 1930 as a small dispensary by the Consolata mis-sionaries. In 1956, it upgraded to a hospital status with 20 beds and later, in 2001 it was accredited by NHIF with 167 beds.

The missionaries who founded the hospital also started Fidenza School of Nursing in 1965. Jeremy Njiru, the Fidenza Nursing School acting principal said the students get almost 75 percent of clinical ex-perience in Kyeni hospital and 25 percent from other hospitals.

Nursing School students in a practical class.

FGM IN EMBu

APRIL - MAY 2015

BY FILEX MURIITHI

It has been difficult to establish the number of still births as well as children born with disabilities

in Mbeere region, Embu County Civil Registrar Patrick Ingutia has said.

Ingutia said Mbeere region parents failed to register still births or physi-cally challenged children making it hard to provide interventions in time.

He, however, decried the low report-ing of the number of births and deaths in the region attributing it to lack ac-cessibility to hospitals making moth-ers deliver children at home.

“We have registered less than 40per-cent of births in Mbeere region as compared to 70percent in the Embu region,” Ingutia said.

He added, “We need a multi-faceted sensitization approach to change this trend. We also need to increase the number of facilities in Mbeere region where mothers can deliver and ease access.”

Beatrice Ong’udi, the County Pop-ulation Coordinator called upon the

County government to adopt a policy on population so as to have a manage-able resident.

“The policy will ensure residents from poverty stricken areas give birth to manageable number for easy plan-ning and access to basic services,” she

said.The Embu County Statistics officer,

Robert Nzuli said they were in the process of developing a statistical ab-stract portal where residents can ac-cess all county data using their mobile devices.

He revealed that the portal will have timely and up to date statistics of each sector so that stakeholders wishing to use the data will access it in a prompt.

In his speech which was read by Administration CEC member Pame-la Kiarie, Governor Martin Wambo-ra said the portal will help both the County and National Government to monitor performance on policies and implementation of programs to real-ize development goals.

Wambora said portal will act as a tool where the county can provide and access information so that they can make necessary interventions.

Philip Masaulo, the County Director of Health said a lot of useful data was uncollected and that there was need to sensitize the community of the need to give out the data for information that would be accessed on the portal.

The leaders who called for increased personnel and sensitization to ensure all births and deaths were reported to ease county planning, spoke while in Embu town.


BY FILEX MURIITHI

Embu University College has partnered with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) in a bid to interest investors to build hostels to meet the growing demand for ac-

commodation by the growing community of students.The Principal of Embu University College Prof Daniel Mu-

gendi said the universitywill provide technical assistance to the investors while the

bank will advise on right investment portfolio as well as pro-vide building loans and mortgages.

“We expect the student population to rise to 4,500 students next year and the figure will move to about 7, 000 students in 2017 exploding the demand for housing for the learners and the staff,” he said adding the school accommodation capacity is at 700 students.

Prof Mugendi said they were impressing on investors to bridge the gap in student housing.

He said, “We cannot put up more hostels because that is not our core function. With the funds, we have concentrated on more crucial areas such as laboratories, lecture halls and libraries.”

Speaking during an investment forum by KCB at the uni-versity, the university principal said they would assist land-lords by providing statistics, getting approvals and in collect-ing rent from students.

Prof Mugendi said through public-private partnerships, they will in some instances

provide land to investors under build, utilize and transfer arrangements to last 25 years after which the building will revert to the university.

Prof Mugendi urged investors to follow standards set by the Commission on University Education in building student hostels to ensure approval of their facilities.

Charles Mukunya, the KCB Embu branch manager said the bank in response to the demand in housing was ready to provide mortgages to the tune of 80 to 105 percent of the cost of the building.

The accommodation crisis at the institution has seen stu-dents rent houses in neighbouring Embu town while others commute from as far as Runyenjes town.

BY FILEX MURIITHI

A section of Embu County el-ders have opposed plans to have the Embu University

College awarded charter.Mwariama Council of Elders that

is chaired by Njagi Kumantha said the institution was still young and

should continue to exist as a constit-uent of Nairobi University for some more time.

Kumantha questioned the rush to elevate the institution into a ful-ly-fledged university. Embu Univer-sity College was established three years ago.

He said as the first public univer-

sity in Embu County, it should con-tinue to benefit from the guidance, mentorship and legacy of its par-ent-Nairobi university which is one of the best universities in Kenya.

“Why should the university be in a hurry to get a charter when it has not even graduated and awarded any degree to its students? It should continue being a constituent college

of University of Nairobi as it estab-lishes the right structures for even-tual autonomous management,” Ku-mantha said.

The elders also opposed plans to rename the institution giving it a new name. The name had been pro-posed by the college’s Principal Prof. Daniel Mugendi to give the institu-tion an identity that is unique to the county.

During the last Mashujaa day cel-ebrations, Prof Mugendi announced intentions to rename the institution, as it moves towards charter award in few months time.

Mugendi had said the university would call a leaders’ meeting to de-liberate on an agreeable name that would identify it with a local hero or landmark. “It would be difficult to rename the institution after the charter is awarded,” Prof Mugendi said.

Kumantha said, “We are comfort-able with the current name, which identifies the university to the coun-ty. It brings on board all communi-ties residing in Embu.”

But all the Embu elected leaders have supported the elevation of the university and are to decide the fi-nal name between these two: Embu University and University of Embu.

Do not rush for a charter – Elders tell Embu University College

Prof. daniel Mugendi njiru, Principal.

KCB to help investors build hostels for Embu University College

We expect the student population to rise to 4,500 students next year and the figure will move to about 7, 000 students in 2017 exploding the demand for housing for the learn-ers and the staff.

Why should the uni-versity be in a hurry to get a charter when it has not even grad-uated and awarded any degree to its students? It should continue being a con-stituent college of University of Nairobi as it establishes the right structures for eventual autonomous management.

Mbeere parents hiding disabled children?

disabled kid using brailbook.

0 7 9 2 3 8 2 3 4 9 2 1 0 >For the Good oF eMBU PeoPle